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i 


IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 


THE  IPHIGENIA 
IN  TAURIS 


OF 


EURIPIDES 


TRANSLATED   INTO   ENGLISH   RHYMING   VERSE 
WITH   EXPLANATORY   NOTES   BY 

GILBERT  MURRAY,  LL.D.,  D.LiTT. 

REGIUS  PROFKSSOR  OF  GREEK  IN  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  OXFORD 


OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

AMERICAN   BRANCH 
NEW  YORK:    29-35   WEST  THIRTY-SECOND  STREET 

I915 


Copyright,  191c.  oy 

Oxford  University  Press 

american  branch 


^Ct^^ 


.^  tyvoT^^ 


sterneHS 


x^ 


^? 


PREFACE 

The  Iphigenia  in  Tauris  is  not  in  the  modern  sense  a 
tragedy;  it  is  a  romantic  play,  beginning  in  a  tragic 
atmosphere  and  moving  through  perils  and  escapes  to 
a  happy  end.  %  To  the  archaeologist  the  cause  of  this 
lies  in  the  ritual  on  which  the  play  is  based.  All  Greek 
tragedies  that  we  know  have  as  their  nucleus  some- 
thing which  the  Greeks  called  an  Aition—a.  cause  or 
origin.  They  all  explain  some  ritual  or  observance  or 
commemorate  some  great  event.  Nearly  all,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  have  for  this  Aition  a  Tomb  Ritual,  as, 
for  instance,  the  Hippolytus  has  the  worship  paid  by 
the  Trozenian  Maidens  at  that  hero's  grave.  The  use 
of  this  Tomb  Ritual  may  well  explain  both  the  intense 
shadow  of  death  that  normally  hangs  over  the  Greek 
tragedies,  and  also  perhaps  the  feeling  of  the  Fatality, 
which  is,  rightly  or  wrongly,  supposed  to  be  prominent 
in  them.  For  if  you  are  actually  engaged  in  commem- 
orating your  hero's  funeral,  it  follows  that  all  through 
the  story,  however  bright  his  prospects  may  seem,  you 
feel  that  he  is  bound  to  die ;  he  cannot  escape.  A  good 
many  tragedies,  however,  are  built  not  on  Tomb  Ritu- 
als but  on  other  sacred  Aitia:  on  the  foundation  of  a 
city,  like  the  Aetnae,  the  ritual  of  the  torch-race,  like 
the  Prometheus;  on  some  great  legendary  succouring  of 
the  oppressed,  like  the  Suppliant  Women  of  Aeschylus 

513447 


PREFACE 

and  Euripides.  And  the  rite  on  which  the  Iphigenia 
is  based  is  essentially  one  in  which  a  man  is  brought  to 
the  verge  of  death  but  just  does  not  die. 

The  rite  is  explained  in  11.  1450  ff.  of  the  play.  On 
a  certain  festival  at  Halae  in  Attica  a  human  victim 
was  led  to  the  altar  of  Artemis  Tauropolos,  touched  on 
the  throat  with  a  sword  and  then  set  free :  very  much 
what  happened  to  Orestes  among  the  Tauri,  and  ex- 
actly what  happened  to  Iphigenia  at  Aulis.  Both 
legends  have  doubtless  grown  out  of  the  same  ritual. 

Like  all  the  great  Greek  legends,  the  Iphigenia 
myths  take  many  varying  forms.  They  are  all  of  them, 
in  their  essence,  conjectural  restorations,  by  poets  or 
other  'wise  men,'  of  supposed  early  history.  According 
to  the  present  play,  Agamemnon,  when  just  about  to 
sail  with  all  the  powers  of  Greece  against  Troy,  was 
bound  by  weather  at  Aulis.  The  medicine-man  Cal- 
chas  explained  that  Artemis  demanded  the  sacrifice  of 
his  daughter,  Iphigenia,  who  was  then  at  home  with 
her  mother,  Clytemnestra.  Odysseus  and  Agamemnon 
sent  for  the  maiden  on  the  pretext  that  she  was  to  be 
married  to  the  famous  young  hero,  Achilles;  she  was 
brought  to  Aulis  and  treacherously  slaughtered — or,  at 
least,  so  people  thought. 

There  is  a  subject  for  tragedy  there ;  and  it  was 
brilliantly  treated  in  Euripides'  Iphigenia  in  Aulis, 
which  was  probably  left  unfinished  at  his  death.  But 
our  play  chooses  a  later  moment  of  the  story. 

In  reality  Artemis  at  the  last  moment  saved  Iphi- 
genia, rapt  her  away  from  mortal  eyes  and  set  her 
down  in  the  land  of  the  Tauri  to  be  her  priestess.  {In 
Tauris  is  only  the  Latin  for  "among  the  Tauri.") 

vi 


PREFACE 

These  Tauri  possessed  an  image  of  Artemis  which  had 
fallen  from  heaven,  and  kept  up  a  savage  rite  of  sac- 
rificing to  it  all  strangers  who  were  cast  on  their  shore^^j' 
Iphigenia,  obedient  to  her  goddess,  and  held  by  "the{ 
spell  of  the  altar,"  had  to  consecrate  the  victims  as 
they    went    in    to    be   slain.      So    far   only   barbarian 
strangers  had  come :  she  waited  half  in  horror,  half  inj 
a  rage  of  revenge,  for  the  day  when  she  should  have 
to  sacrifice  a  Greek.     The  first  Greek  that  came  was 
her  own  brother,  Orestes,  who  had  been  sent  by  Apollo 
to  take  the  image  of  Artemis  and  bear  it  to  Attica,; 
where    it    should    no    more    be    stained    with    human^ 
sacrifice. 

If  we  try  to  turn  from  these  myths  to  the  historical 
facts  that  underly  them,  we  may  conjecture  that  there 
were  three  goddesses  of  the  common  Aegean  type,  wor- 
shipped in  different  places.  At  Brauron  and  elsewhere 
there  was  Iphigenia  ('Birth-mighty')  ;  at  Halae  there 
was  the  Tauropolos  ('the  Bull-rider,'  like  Europa, 
who  rode  on  the  horned  Moon)  ;  among  the  savage  and 
scarcely  known  Tauri  there  was  some  goddess  to  whom 
shipwrecked  strangers  were  sacrificed.  Lastly  there 
came  in  the  Olympian  Artemis.  Now  all  these  god- 
desses (except  possibly  the  Taurian,  of  whom  we  know 
little)  were  associated  with  the  Moon  and  with  child- 
birth, and  with  rites  for  sacrificing  or  redeeming  the 
first-born.  Naturally  enough,  therefore,  they  were  all 
gradually  absorbed  by  the  prevailing  worship  of 
Artemis.  Tauropolis  became  an  epithet  of  Artemis, 
Iphigenia  became  her  priestess  and  '  Keybearer.*  And 
the  word  'Tauropolis,'  which  had  become  obscure,  was 
explained  as  a  reference  to  the  Tauri.     The  old  rude 

vii 


PREFACE 

image  of  Tauropolis  had  come  from  the  Tauri,  and  the 
strange  ritual  was  descended  from  their  bloody  rites. 
So  the  Taurian  goddess  must  be  Artemis  too.  The  ten- 
dency of  ancient  polytheism,  when  it  met  with  some 
alien  religion,  \yas  not  to  treat  the  alien  gods  as  entirely 
new  persons,  but  assuming  the  real  and  obvious  exis- 
tence of  their  own  gods,  to  inquire  by  what  names  and 
with  what  ritual  the  strangers  worshipped  them.  ' 

As  usual  in  Euripides,  the  central  character  of  this 
play  is  a  woman,  and  a  woman  most  unsparingly  yet 
\  lovingly  studied.  Iphigenia  is  no  mere  'sympathetic 
heroine.'  She  is  a  worthy  member  of  her  great  but 
sinister  house;  a  haggard  and  exiled  woman,  eating 
out  her  heart  in  two  conflicting  emotions :  intense  long- 
ing for  home  and  all  that  she  had  loved  in  childhood, 
and  bitter  self-pitying  rage  against  'her  murderers.' 
The  altar  of  Aulis  is  constantly  in  her  thoughts.  She 
does  not  know  whether  to  hate  her  father,  but  at  least 
she  can  with  a  clear  conscience  hate  all  the  rest  of 
those  implicated,  Calchas,  Odysseus,  Menelaus,  and 
most  fiercely,  though  somewhat  unjustly,  Helen.  All 
the  good  women  in  Euripides  go  wild  at  the  name  of 
Helen.  Iphigenia  broods  on  her  wrongs  till  she  can 
see  nothing  else;  she  feels  as  if  she  hated  all 
Greeks,  and  lived  only  for  revenge,  for  the  hope  of 
some  day  slaughtering  Greeks  at  her  altar,  as  piti- 
lessly as  they  slaughtered  her  at  Aulis.  She  knows  how 
horrible  this  state  of  mind  is,  but  she  is  now  "turned 
to  stone,  and  has  no  pity  left  in  her."  Then  the  Greeks 
come;  and  even  before  she  knows  who  they  really  are, 
the  hard  shell  of  her  bitterness  slowly  yields.     Her 

viii 


PREFACE 

heart  goes  out  to  them;  she  draws  Orestes  against  his 
will  into  talk ;  she  insists  on  pitying  him,  insists  on  his 
pitying  her;  and  eventually  determines,  come  what 
may,  that  she  will  save  at  least  the  one  stranger  that  she 
has  talked  with  most.  Presently  comes  the  discovery 
who  the  strangers  are ;  and  she  is  at  once  ready  to  die 
with  them  or  for  them. 

As  for  the  scene  in  which  Iphigenia  befools  Thoas, 
my  moral  feelings  may  be  obtuse,  but  I  certainly 
cannot  feel  the  slightest  compunction  or  shock  at  the 
heavy  lying.  Which  of  us  would  not  expect  at  least 
as  much  from  his  own  sister,  if  it  lay  with  her  to  save 
him  from  the  altars  of  Benin  or  Ashanti?  I  suspect 
that  the  good  people  who  lament  over  "the  low  stan- 
dard of  truthfulness  shown  by  even  the  most  enlight- 
ened pagans"  have  either  forgotten  the  days  when  they 
read  stories  of  adventure,  or  else  have  not,  in  reading 
this  scene,  realised  properly  the  strain  of  hairbreadth 
peril  that  lies  behind  the  comedy  of  it.  A  single  slip 
in  Iphigenia's  tissue  of  desperate  improvisations  would 
mean  death,  and  not  to  herself  alone.  One  feels  rather 
sorry  for  Thoas,  certainly,  and  he  is  a  very  fine  fellow 
in  his  way;  but  a  person  who  insists  on  slaughtering 
strangers  cannot  expect  those  strangers  or  their  friends 
to  treat  him  with  any  approach  to  candour. 

The  tw^o  young  men  come  nearer  to  mere  ideal  heros 
de  roman  than  any  other  characters  in  Euripides.  They 
are  surprisingly  handsome  and  brave  and  unselfish  and 
everything  that  they  should  be ;  and  they  stand  out  like 
heroes  against  the  mob  of  cowardly  little  Taurians  in 
the  Herdsman's  speech.     Yet  they  have  none  of  the 

ix 


PREFACE 

unreality  that  is  usual  in  such  figures.  The  shadow  of 
madness  and  guilt  hanging  over  Orestes  makes  a  dif- 
ference. At  his  first  entrance,  when  danger  is  still  far 
off,  he  is  a  mass  of  broken  nerves ;  he  depends  abso- 
lutely on  Pylades.  In  the  later  scenes,  when  they  are 
face  to  face  with  death,  the  underlying  strength  of  the 
son  of  the  Great  King  asserts  itself  and  makes  one 
understand  why,  for  all  his  madness,  Orestes  is  the 
chief,  and  Pylades  only  the  devoted  follower. 

Romantic  plays  with  happy  endings  are  almost  of 
necessity  inferior  in  artistic  value  to  true  tragedies. 
Not,  one  would  hope,  simply  because  they  end  happily ; 
happiness  in  itself  is  certainly  not  less  beautiful  than 
grief;  but  because  a  tragedy  in  its  great  moments  can 
generally  afford  to  be  sincere,  while  romantic  plays  live 
in  an  atmosphere  of  ingenuity  and  make-believe.  The 
Iphigenia  is  not  of  the  same  order  as  The  Trojan 
Women.  Yet  it  is  a  delightful  play;  subtle,  ever- 
changing,  full  of  movement  and  poignancy.  The  rec- 
ognition scene  became  to  Aristotle  a  model  of  what 
such  a  scene  should  be ;  and  the  long  passage  before  it, 
from  the  entrance  of  the  two  princes  onward,  seems  to 
me  one  of  the  most  skilful  and  fascinating  in  Greek 
drama. 

And  after  all  the  adventure  of  Euripides  is  not  quite 
like  that  of  the  average  romantic  writer.  It  is  shot 
through  by  reflection,  by  reality  and  by  sadness.  There  is 
a  shadow  that  broods  over  the  Iphigenia,  though  it  is  not 
the  shadow  of  death.  It  is  exile,  homesickness.  Iphi- 
genia, Orestes,  the  Women  of  the  Chorus,  are  all  exiles, 
all  away  from  their  heart's  home,  among  savage  people 

X 


PREFACE 

and  cruel  gods.  They  wait  on  the  shore  while  the  sea- 
birds  take  wing  for  Hellas,  out  beyond  the  barrier  of 
the  Dark-Blue  Rocks  and  the  great  stretches  of  magical 
and  'unfriended'  sea.  Nearly  all  the  lyrics  are  full  of 
sea-light  and  the  clash  of  waters,  and  the  lyrics  are 
usually  the  very  soul  of  Euripidean  tragedy. 

G.  M.) 


XI 


THE  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 


CHARACTERS  OF  THE  PLAY 

Iphigenia,  eldest  daughter  of  Agamemnon,  King  of  Ar- 
gos;  supposed  to  have  been  sacrificed  by  him  to  Arte- 
mis at  Aulis. 

Orestes,  her  brother;  pursued  by  Furies  for  killing  his 
mother,  Clytemnestra,  who  had  murdered  Agamem- 
non. 

Pylades,  Prince  of  Phocis,  friend  to  Orestes. 

Thoas,  King  of  Tauris,  a  savage  country  beyond  the 
Symplegades. 

A  Herdsman. 

A  Messenger, 

Chorus  of  Captive  Greek  Women,  handmaids  to  Iphi- 
genia. 

The  Goddess  Pallas  Athena. 

The  play  was  first  performed  between  the  years  414  and 
412  B.C. 


VV-   1-16 


THE  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 


The  Scene  shows  a  great  and  barbaric  Temple  on  a 
desolate  sea-coast.  An  altar  is  visible  stained  with 
blood.  There  are  spoils  of  slain  men  hanging  from 
the  roof.  Iphigenia^  in  the  dress  of  a  Priestess, 
comes  out  from  the  Temple. 

Iphigenia. 

Child  of  the  man  of  torment  and  of  pride         /^) 

Tantalid  Pelops  bore  a  royal  bride 

On  flying  steeds  from  Pisa.    Thence  did  spring 

Atreus :  from  Atreus,  linked  king  with  king, 

Menelaiis,  Agamemnon.     His  am  I 

And  Clytemnestra's  child :  whom  cruelly 

At  Aulis,  where  the  strait  of  shifting  blue  ^vu 

Frets  with  quick  winds,  for  Helen's  sake  he  slew,  v  a0  -^ 

Or  thinks  to  have  slain ;  such  sacrifice  he  swore 

To  Artemis  on  that  deep-bosomed  shore. 

For  there  Lord  Agamemnon,  hot  with  joy 
To  win  for  Greece  the  crown  of  conquered  Troy, 
For  Menelaiis'  sake  through  all  distress 
Pursuing  Helen's  vanished  loveliness, 
Gathered  his  thousand  ships  from  every  coast 
Of  Hellas :  when  there  fell  on  that  great  host 
Storms  and  despair  of  sailing.    Then  the  King 
Sought  signs  of  fire,  and  Calchas 'answering 

3 


EURIPIDES 


W.  17-44 


® 


Spake  thus :  ' '  O  Lord  of  Hellas,  from  this  shore 

No  ship  of  thine  may  move  for  evermore, 

Till  Artemis  receive  in  gift  of  blood 

Thy  child,  Iphigenia.    Long  hath  stood 

Thy  vow,  to  pay  to  Her  that  bringeth  light 

Whatever  birth  most  fair  by  day  or  night 

The  year  should  bring.     That  year  thy  queen  did  bear 

A  child — whom  here  I  name  of  all  most  fair. 

See  that  she  die." 

So  from  my  mother's  side 
By  lies  Odysseus  won  me,  to  be  bride 
In  Aulis  to  Achilles.    When  I  came, 
They  took  me  and  above  the  altar  flame 
Held,  and  the  sword  was  swinging  to  the  gash, 
When,  lo,  out  of  their  vision  in  a  flash 
Artemis  rapt  me,  leaving  in  my  place 
A  deer  to  bleed ;  and  on  through  a  great  space 
Of  shining  sky  upbore  and  in  this  town 
Of  Tauris  the  Unfriended  set  me  down ; 
Where  o'er  a  savage  people  savagely 
King  Thoas  rules.    This  is  her  sanctuary 
And  I  her  priestess.    Therefore,  by  the  rite 
Of  worship  here,  wherein  she  hath  delight — 
Though  fair  in  naught  but  name.  .  .  .  But  Artemis 
Is  near ;  I  speak  no  further.     Mine  it  is 
To  consecrate  and  touch  the  victim's  hair ; 
Doings  of  blood  unspoken  are  the  care 
Of  others,  where  her  inmost  chambers  lie. 
Ah  me ! 

But  what  dark  dreams,  thou  clear  and  morning  sky, 
I  have  to  tell  thee,  can  that  bring  them  ease ! 
Meseemed  in  sleep,  far  over  distant  seas, 

4 


vv.45-67     IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

I  lay  in  Argos,  and  about  me  slept 

My  maids :  and,  lo,  the  level  earth  was  swept 

With  quaking  like  the  sea.    Out,  out  I  fled, 

And,  turning,  saw  the  cornice  overhead 

Reel,  and  the  beams  and  mighty  door-trees  down 

In  blocks  of  ruin  round  me  overthrown. 

One  single  oaken  pillar,  so  I  dreamed, 

Stood  of  my  father's  house ;  and  hair,  meseemed, 

Waved  from  its  head  all  brown :  and  suddenly 

A  human  voice  it  had,  and  spoke.    And  I, 

Fulfilling  this  mine  office,  built  on  blood 

Of  unknown  men,  before  that  pillar  stood. 

And  washed  him  clean  for  death,  mine  eyes  astream 

With  weeping. 

And  this  way  I  read  my  dream. 
Orestes  is  no  more :  on  him  did  fall  \ j 

My  cleansing  drops.  —  The  pillar  of  the  hall 
Must  be  the  man  first-born ;  and  they  on  whom 
My  cleansing  falls,  their  way  is  to  the  tomb. 
Therefore  to  my  dead  brother  will  I  pour 
Such  sacrifice,  I  on  this  bitter  shore 
And  he  beyond  great  seas,  as  still  I  may, 
With  all  those  maids  whom  Thoas  bore  away 
In  war  from  Greece  and  gave  me  for  mine  own. 
But  wherefore  come  they  not?    I  must  be  gone 
And  wait  them  in  the  temple,  where  I  dwell. 

[She  goes  into  the  Temple. 


Voice. 
Did  some  one  cross  the  pathway?    Guard  thee  well.  ^\ 

5 


EURIPIDES  vv.  63-77 

Another  Voice. 
I  am  watching.    Every  side  I  turn  mine  eye. 

Enter  Orestes  and  Pylades.     Their  dress  sJiows  they 
are  travellers:  Orestes  is  shaken  and  distraught. 

Orestes. 

How,  brother?    And  is  this  the  sanctuary 
At  last,  for  which  we  sailed  from  Argolis? 

Pylades. 
For  sure,  Orestes.     Seest  thou  not  it  is? 

Orestes. 
The  altar,  too,  where  Hellene  blood  is  shed. 

Pylades. 
How  like  long  hair  those  blood-stains,  tawny  red ! 

Orestes. 
And  spoils  of  slaughtered  men — there  by  the  thatch. 

Pylades. 

Aye,  first-fruits  of  the  harvest,  when  they  catch 
Their  strangers! — 'Tis  a  place  to  search  with  care. 

\He  searches,  while  Orestes  sits. 

Orestes. 
O  God,  where  hast  thou  brought  me  ?    What  new  snare 

6 


W.78-I05    IPHIGENIA  IN   TAURIS 

Is  this? — I  slew  my  mother;  I  avenged 

My  father  at  thy  bidding ;  I  have  ranged 

A  homeless  world,  hunted  by  shapes  of  pain, 

And  circling  trod  in  mine  own  steps  again. 

At  last  I  stood  once  more  before  thy  throne 

And  cried  thee  question,  what  thing  should  be  done 

To  end  these  miseries,  wherein  I  reel 

Through  Hellas,  mad,  lashed  like  a  burning  wheel ; 

And  thou  didst  bid  me  seek  .  .  .  what  land  but  this 

Of  Tauri,  w^here  thy  sister  Artemis 

Her  altar  hath,  and  seize  on  that  divine 

Image  which  fell,  men  say,  into  this  shrine 

From  heaven.    This  I  must  seize  by  chance  or  plot 

Or  peril — clearer  word  was  uttered  not — 

And  bear  to  Attic  earth.    If  this  be  done, 

I  should  have  peace  from  all  my  malison. 

Lo,  I  have  done  thy  will.     I  have  pierced  the  seas 
Where  no  Greek  man  may  live. — Ho,  Pylades, 
Sole  sharer  of  my  quest :  hast  seen  it  all  ? 
What  can  we  next?    Thou  seest  this  circuit  wall 
Enormous?    Must  we  climb  the  public  stair, 
With  all  men  watching?    Shall  we  seek  somewhere 
Some  lock  to  pick,  some  secret  bolt  or  bar — 
Of  all  which  w^e  know  nothing?    Where  we  are. 
If  one  man  mark  us,  if  they  see  us  prize 
The  gate,  or  think  of  entrance  anywise, 
'Tis  death. — We  still  have  time  to  fly  for  home : 
Back  to  the  galley  quick,  ere  worse  things  come ! 

Pylades. 

To  fly  we  dare  not,  brother.    'Twere  a  thing 
Not  of  our  custom ;  and  ill  work,  to  bring 

7 


EURIPIDES  VT.td6^»s 

God's  word  to  such  reviling. — Let  us  leave 

The  temple  now,  and  gather  in  some  cave 

Where  glooms  the  cool  sea  ripple.    But  not  where 

The  ship  lies ;  men  might  chance  to  see  her  there 

And  tell  some  chief ;  then  certain  were  our  doom. 

But  when  the  fringed  eye  of  Night  be  come 

Then  we  must  dare,  by  all  ways  foul  or  fine. 

To  thieve  that  wondrous  Image  from  its  shrine. 

Ah,  see ;  far  up,  between  each  pair  of  beams 

A  hollow  one  might  creep  through !    Danger  gleams 

Like  sunshine  to  a  brave  man's  eyes,  and  fear 

Of  what  may  be  is  no  help  anywhere. 

Orestes. 

Aye ;  we  have  never  braved  these  leagues  of  way 
To  falter  at  the  end.    See,  I  obey 
Thy  words.    They  are  ever  wise.    Let  us  go  mark 
Some  cavern,  to  lie  hid  till  fall  of  dark. 
God  will  not  suffer  that  bad  things  be  stirred 
To  mar  us  now,  and  bring  to  naught  the  word 
Himself  hath  spoke.    Aye,  and  no  peril  brings 
Pardon  for  turning  back  to  sons  of  kings. 

\They  go  out  towards  the  shore.    After  they 
are  gone,  enter  gradually  the  Women 
<o)  OF  THE  Chorus. 


/^t/vc^  Chorus. 


/  reace  •  reace  upon  an  wno  aweii 

yy^^^Y^^i  .  I        By  the  SisterJRocks^  that  clash  in  the  swell 
^^  ,Jr^  ^^  Of  the  Friendless  Seas. 


.,^X46  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

O  Child  of  Leto,  thou, 
Dictynna  mountain-born, 
To  the  cornice  gold-inlaid 
To  the  pillared  sanctities, 
We  come  in  the  cold  of  morn, 
We  come  with  virgin  brow, 
Pure  as  our  oath  was  sworn. 
Handmaids  of  thine  handmaid 
Who  holdeth  the  stainless  keys. 

From  Hellas,  that  once  was  ours, 

We  come  before  thy  gate. 

From  the  land  of  the  western  seas, 

The  horses  and  the  towers, 

The  wells  and  the  garden  trees, 

And  the  seats  where  our  fathers  sate. 

Leader.  JL^X^'^'^^ 

What  tidings,  ho?    With  what  intent 
Hast  called  me  to  thy  shrine  and  thee, 
O  child  of  him  who  crossed  the  sea 
To  Troy  with  that  great  armament, 
The  thousand  prows,  the  myriad  swords  ? 
I  come,  O  child  of  Atreid  Lords. 

[Iphigenia,  followed  by  Attendants, 
comes  jrom  the  Temple. 

Iphigenia. 

Alas,  O  maidens  mine, 
I  am  filled  full  of  tears : 
My  heart  filled  with  the  beat 
Of  tears,  as  of  dancing  feet, 

9 


i) 


EURIPIDES  w.  147-172 

A  lyreless  joyless  line, 

And  music  meet  for  the  dead. 

For  a  whisper  is  in  mine  ears, 
By  visions  borne  on  the  breath 
Of  the  Night  that  now  is  fled, 
Of  a  brother  gone  to  death. 
Oh  sorrow  and  weeping  sore, 

For  the  house  that  no  more  is, 
For  the  dead  that  were  kings  of  yore 

And  the  labour  of  Argolis ! 

[She  begins  the  Funeral  Rite. 

O  Spirit,  thou  unknown,  /c>ua<^  *^*^  "^  vlcm^^l/^ 

Who  bearest  on  dark  wings 
My  brother,  my  one,  mine  own, 

I  bear  drink-offerings, 
And  the  cup  that  bringeth  ease 

Flowing  through  Earth's  deep  breast; 
Milk  of  the  mountain  kine. 
The  hallowed  gleam  of  wine. 
The  toil  of  murmuring  bees  : 

By  these  shall  the  dead  have  rest. 

To  an  Attendant. 

The  golden  goblet  let  me  pour, 
And  that  which  Hades  thirsteth  for. 


~\  ft  y^^^  ^      O  branch  of  Agamemnon's  tree 

Beneath  the  earth,  as  to  one  dead. 
This  cup  of  love  I  pour  to  thee. 
Oh,  pardon,  that  I  may  not  shed 

10 


vv.  173-302 


IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

One  lock  of  hair  to  wreathe  thy  tomb, 
One  tear :  so  far,  so  far  am  I 

From  what  to  me  and  thee  was  home, 
And  where  in  all  men's  fantasy. 
Butchered,  O  God  !  I  also  lie. 


Chorus. 

Woe ;  woe :  I  too  with  refluent  melody. 
An  echo  wild  of  the  dirges  of  the  Asian, 

I,  thy  bond  maiden,  cry  to  answer  thee : 
The  music  that  lieth  hid  in  lamentation, 

The  song  that  is  heard  in  the  deep  hearts  of  the  dead, 
That  the  Lord  of  dead  men  'mid  his  dancing  singeth, 
And  never  joy-cry,  never  joy  it  bringeth ; 
Woe  for  the  house  of  Kings  in  desolation. 

Woe  for  the  light  of  the  sceptre  vanished. 

From  kings  in  Argos  of  old,  from  joyous  kings, 

The  beginning  came : 
Then  peril  swift  upon  peril,  flame  on  flame : 
The  dark  and  wheeling  coursers,  as  wild  with  wings, 
The  cry  of  one  betrayed  on  a  drowning  shore, 
The  sun  that  blanched  in  heaven,  the  world  that 

changed — 
Evil  on  evil  and  none  alone !— deranged 
By  the  GoldfiiLJLamli  and  the  wrong  grown  ever  more ; 
Blood  following  blood,  sorrow  on  sorrow  sore ! 
So  come  the  dead  of  old,  the  dead  in  wrath, 
Back  on  the  seed  of  the  high  Tantalidae ; 
Surely  the  Spirit  of  Life  an  evil  path 
Hath  hewed  for  thee. 
II 


EURIPIDES  w.ao3-=3o 

Iphigenia. 

From  the  beginning  the  Spirit  of  my  life 
Was  an  evil  spirit.    Alas  for  my  mother^s  zone, 
And  the  night  that  bare  me !    From  the  beginning 

Strife, 
As  a  book  to  read,  Fate  gave  me  for  mine  own. 
They  wooed  a  bride  for  the  strikers  down  of  Troy — 
Thy  first-born,  Mother:  was  it  for  this,  thy  prayer?— 
A  hind  of  slaughter  to  die  in  a  father's  snare, 
Gift  of  a  sacrifice  where  none  hath  joy. 

They  set  me  on  a  royal  wane ; 

Down  the  long  sand  they  led  me  on, 
A  bride  new-decked,  a  bride  of  bane. 

In  Aulis  to  the  Nereid's  son. 
And  now  estranged  for  evermore 

Beyond  the  far  estranging  foam 
I  watch  a  flat  and  herbless  shore, 

Unloved,  unchilded,  without  home 
Or  city :  never  more  to  meet 

For  Hera's  dance  with  Argive  maids,  # 

Nor  round  the  loom  'mid  singing  sweet 

Make  broideries  and  storied  braids. 
Of  writhing  giants  overthrown 
And  clear-eyed  Pallas.  .  .  .  All  is  gone ! 
Red  hands  and  ever-ringing  ears  : 
The  blood  of  men  that  friendless  die. 
The  horror  of  the  strangers'  cry 
Unheard,  the  horror  of  their  tears. 

But  now,  let  even  that  have  rest : 
I  weep  for  him  in  Argos  slain, 

12 


w.  331-247 


IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 


The  brother  whom  I  knew,  Ah  me, 
A  babe,  a  flower ;  and  yet  to  be — 
There  on  his  mother's  arms  and  breast — 
The  crowned  Orestes,  lord  of  men! 


D 

Leader  of  the  Chorus.        /  o) 


Stay,  yonder  from  some  headland  of  the  sea 
There  comes— methinks  a  herdsman,  seeking  thee. 

Enter  a  Herdsman.    Iphigenia  is  still  on  her  knees. 

Herdsman. 

Daughter  of  Clytemnestra  and  her  king, 
Give  ear !    I  bear  news  of  a  wondrous  thing. 

Iphigenia. 
What  news,  that  should  so  mar  my  obsequies? 

Herdsman. 

A  ship  hath  passed  the  blue  Symplegades, 

And  here  upon  our  coast  two  men  are  thrown, 

Young,  bold,  good  slaughter  for  the  altar-stone 

Of  Artemis  !  {S,he  rises. 

Make  all  the  speed  ye  may ; 
'Tis  not  too  much.    The  blood-bowl  and  the  spray ! 

Iphigenia. 
Men  of  what  nation  ?    Doth  their  habit  show  ? 

Herdsman. 
Hellenes  for  sure,  but  that  is  all  we  know. 

13 


EURIPIDES  w.  .48-^6: 

Iphigenia. 
No  name?    No  other  clue  thine  ear  could  seize? 

Herdsman. 
We  heard  one  call  his  comrade  * ^^yjades.^'   in 

Iphigenia. 
Yes.    And  the  man  who  spoke — his  name  was  what? 

Herdsman. 
None  of  us  heard.    I  think  they  spoke  it  not. 

Iphigenia. 
How  did  ye  see  them  first,  how  make  them  fast  ? 

Herdsman. 
Down  by  the  sea,  just  where  the  surge  is  cast.  .  .  » 

Iphigenia. 
The  sea?    What  is  the  sea  to  thee  and  thine? 

Herdsman. 
We  came  to  wash  our  cattle  in  the  brine. 

Iphigenia. 

Go  back,  and  tell  how  they  were  taken  j  show 
The  fashion  of  it,  for  I  fain  would  know 
All. — 'Tis  so  long  a  time,  and  never  yet, 
Never,  hath  Greek  blood  made  this  altar  wet. 

Herdsman. 

We  had  brought  our  forest  cattle  where  the  seas 
Break  in  long  tides  from  the  Symplegades. 

14 


w..6a-.9o   IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

A  bay  is  there,  deep  eaten  by  the  surge 
And  hollowed  clear,  with  cover  by  the  verge 
Where  purple-fishers  camp.    These  twain  were  there 
When  one  of  mine  own  men,  a  forager. 
Spied  them,  and  tiptoed  whispering  back :  ' '  God  save 
Us  now  !    Two  things  unearthly  by  the  wave     i  ji 
Sitting !"     We  looked,  and  one  of  pious  mood 
Raised  up  his  hands  to  heaven  and  praying  stood : 
' '  Son  of  the  white  Sea  Spirit,  high  in  rule. 
Storm-lord  Palaemon,  Oh,  be  merciful : 
Or  sit  ye  there  the  warrior  twins  of  Zeus, 
Or  something  loved  of  Him,  from  whose  great  thews 
Was* born  the  Nereids'  fifty-fluted  choir." 
Another,  flushed  with  folly  and  the  fire 
Of  lawless  daring,  laughed  aloud  and  sw^ore 
'Twas  shipwrecked  sailors  skulking  on  the  shore, 
Our  rule  and  custom  here  being  known,  to  slay 
All  strangers.    And  most  thought  this  was  the  way 
To  follow,  and  seek  out  for  Artemis 
The  blood-gift  of  our  people. 

Just  at  this 
One  of  the  strangers  started  from  his  seat, 
And  stood,  and  upward,  downward,  with  a  beat 
His  head  went,  and  he  groaned,  and  all  his  arm 
Trembled.    Then,  as  a  hunter  gives  alarm, 
He  shrieked,  stark  mad  and  raving :  * '  Pylades, 
Dost  see  her  there? — And  there— Oh,  no  one  sees  ! — 
A  she-dragon  of  Hell,  and  all  her  head 
Agape  with  fanged  asps,  to  bite  me  dead. 
She  hath  no  face,  but  somewhere  from  her  cloak 
Bloweth  a  wind  of  fire  and  bloody  smoke : 
The  wings'  beat  fans  it :  in  her  arms,  Ah  see ! 
My  mother,  dead  grey  stone,  to  cast  on  me 

IS 


EURIPIDES  w.  .91-318 

And  crush.  .  .  .  Help,  help !    They  crowd  on  me 
behind.  .  .  ." 

No  shapes  at  ail  were  there.    'Twas  his  sick  mind 
Which  turned  the  herds  that  lowed  and  barking  hounds 
That  followed,  to  some  visionary  sounds 
Of  Furies.    For  ourselves,  we  did  but  sit 
And  watch  in  silence,  wondering  if  the  fit 
Would  leave  him  dead.    When  suddenly  out  shone 
His  sword,  and  like  a  lion  he  leaped  upon 
Our  herds,  to  fight  his  Furies  !    Flank  and  side 
He  stabbed  and  smote  them,  till  the  foam  was  dyed 
Red  at  the  waves'  edge.    Marry,  when  we  saw 
The  cattle  hurt  and  falling,  no  more  law 
We  gave,  but  sprang  to  arms  and  blew  the  horn 
For  help — so  strong  they  looked  and  nobly  born 
For  thralls  like  us  to  meet,  that  pair  unknown. 

Well,  a  throng  gathered  ere  much  time  was  gone ; 
When  suddenly  the  whirl  of  madness  slips 
From  off  him  and  he  falls,  quite  weak,  his  lips 
Dropping  with  foam.    When  once  we  saw  him  fall 
So  timely,  we  were  at  him  one  and  all 
To  pelt  and  smite.     The  other  watched  us  come, 
But  knelt  and  wiped  those  lips  all  dank  with  foam 
And  tended  the  sick  body,  while  he  held 
His  cloak's  good  web  above  him  for  a  shield ; 
So  cool  he  was  to  ward  off  every  stone 
And  all  the  while  care  for  that  stricken  one. 

Then  rose  the  fallen  man,  calm  now  and  grave. 
Looked,  and  saw  battle  bursting  like  a  wave 
That  bursts,  and  knew  that  peril  close  at  hand 
Which  now  is  come,  and  groaned.     On  every  hand 

16 


vv.  319-343  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

We  stood,  and  stoned  and  stoned,  and  ceased  not.   Aye, 

'Twas  then  we  heard  that  fearful  battle-cry: 

**Ho,  Pylades,  'tis  death!    But  let  it  be 

A  gallant  death !    Draw  sword  and  follow  me." 

When  those  two  swords  came  flashing,  up  the  glen 
Through  the  loose  rocks  we  scattered  back ;  but  when 
One  band  was  flying,  down  by  rocks  and  trees 
Came  others  pelting :  did  they  turn  on  these, 
Back  stole  the  first  upon  them,  stone  on  stone. 
*Twas  past  belief :  of  all  those  shots  not  one 
Struck  home.    The  goddess  kept  her  fated  prey 
Perfect.    Howbeit,  at  last  we  made  our  way 
Right,  left  and  round  behind  them  on  the  sands, 
And  rushed,  and  beat  the  swords  out  of  their  hands. 
So  tired  they  scarce  could  stand.    Then  to  the  king 
We  bore  them  both,  and  he,  not  tarrying, 
Sends  them  to  thee,  to  touch  with  holy  spray — 
And  then  the  blood-bowl ! 

I  have  heard  thee  pray, 
Priestess,  ere  now  for  such  a  draft  as  this. 
Aye,  slay  but  these  two  chiefs  to  Artemis 
And  Hellas  shall  have  paid  thy  debt,  and  know 
What  blood  was  spilt  in  Aulis  long  ago. 

Leader. 
I  marvel  that  one  mad,  whoe'er  he  be. 
Should  sail  from  Hellas  to  the  Friendless  Sea. 

Iphigenia 
'Tis  well.    Let  thy  hand  bring  them,  and  mine  own      /  '^] 
Shall  falter  not  till  here  God's  will  be  done.  -^ 

[Exit  Herdsman. 

17 


EURIPIDES  vv.  344-373 

O  suffering  heart,  not  fierce  thou  wast  of  old 
To  shipwrecked  men.    Nay,  pities  manifold 
Held  thee  in  fancy  homeward,  lest  thy  hand 
At  last  should  fall  on  one  of  thine  own  land. 
But  now,  for  visions  that  have  turned  to  stone 
My  heart,  to  know  Orestes  sees  the  sun 
No  more,  a  cruel  woman  waits  you  here, 
Whoe'er  ye  be,  and  one  without  a  tear. 

'Tis  true :  I  know  by  mine  own  evil  will : 
One  long  in  pain,  if  things  more  suffering  still 
Fall  to  his  hand,  will  hate  them  for  his  own 
Torment.  .  .  .  And  no  great  wind  hath  ever  blown, 
No  ship  from  God  hath  passed  the  Clashing  Gate, 
To  bring  me  Helen,  who  hath  earned  my  hate, 
And  Menelaus,  till  I  mocked  their  prayers 
In  this  new  Aulis,  that  is  mine,  not  theirs : 
Where  Greek  hands  held  me  lifted,  like  a  beast 
For  slaughter,  and  my  throat  bled.    And  the  priest 
My  father !  ...  Not  one  pang  have  I  forgot. 

Ah  me,  the  blind  half -prisoned  arms  I  shot 
This  way  and  that,  to  find  his  beard,  his  knees. 
Groping  and  wondering :  ' '  Father,  what  are  these 
For  bridal  rites?    My  mother  even  now 
Mid  Argive  women  sings  for  me,  whom  thou  .  .  . 
What  dost  thou?    She  sings  happy  songs,  and  all 
Is  dance  and  sound  of  piping  in  the  hall ; 
And  here.  .  .  .  Is  he  a  vampyre,  is  he  one 
That  fattens  on  the  dead,  thy  Peleus'  son — 
Whose  passion  shaken  like  a  torch  before 
My  leaping  chariot,  lured  me  to  this  shore 
To  wed — " 

Ah  me !    And  I  had  hid  my  face, 
Burning,  behind  my  veil.     I  would  not  press 

i8 


vv.  374-397 


IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 


Orestes  to  my  arms  .  .  .  who  now  is  slain !  .  .  . 
I  would  not  kiss  my  sister's  lips  again, 
For  shame  and  fulness  of  the  heart  to  meet 
My  bridegroom.    All  my  kisses,  all  my  sweet 
Words  were  stored  up  and  hid :  I  should  come  back 
So  soon  to  Argos  ! 

And  thou,  too :  alack, 
Brother,  if  dead  thou  art,  from  what  high  things 
Thy  youth  is  outcast,  and  the  pride  of  kings 
Fallen ! 

And  this  the  goddess  deemeth  good ! 
If  ever  mortal  hand  be  dark  with  blood ; 
Nay,  touch  a  new-made  mother  or  one  slain 
In  war,  her  ban  is  on  him.    'Tis  a  stain 
She  driveth  from  her  outer  walls ;  and  then 
Herself  doth  drink  this  blood  of  slaughtered  men? 
Could  ever  Leto,  she  of  the  great  King 
Beloved,  be  mother  to  so  gross  a  thing? 
These  tales  be  lies,  false  as  those  feastings  wild 
Of  Tantalus  and  Gods  that  tore  a  child. 
This  land  of  murderers  to  its  god  hath  given 
Its  own  lust ;  evil  dwelleth  not  in  heaven. 

[She  goes  into  the  Temple. 


-h 


Chorus. 

Dark  of  the  sea,  dark  of  the  sea,  [Strophe  1. 

Gates  of  the  warring  water. 
One,  in  the  old  time,  conquered  you, 
A  winged  passion  that  burst  the  blue. 
When  the  West  was  shut  and  the  Dawn  lay  free 

To  the  pain  of  Inachus'  daughter. 

19 


EURIPIDES  w.  398-431 

But  who  be  these,  from  where  the  rushes  blow 
On  pale  Eurotas,  from  pure  Dirce's  flow, 

That  turn  not  neither  falter, 
Seeking  Her  land,  where  no  man  breaketh  bread, 
Her  without  pity,  round  whose  virgin  head 
Blood  on  the  pillars  rusts  from  long  ago, 

Blood  on  the  ancient  altar. 


[Antistrophe  1. 

A  flash  of  the  foam,  a  flash  of  the  foam, 

A  wave  on  the  oarblade  welling, 
And  out  they  passed  to  the  heart  of  the  blue : 
A  chariot  shell  that  the  wild  winds  drew. 
Is  it  for  passion  of  gold  they  come, 

Or  pride  to  make  great  their  dwelling? 

For  sweet  is  Hope,  yea,  to  much  mortal  woe 
So  sweet  that  none  may  turn  from  it  nor  go, 

Whom  once  the  far  voice  calleth, 
To  wander  through  fierce  peoples  and  the  gleam 
Of  desolate  seas,  in  every  heart  a  dream : 
And  these  she  maketh  empty  die,  and,  lo, 

To  that  man's  hand  she  falleth. 


[Strophe  2. 


Through  the  Clashing  Rocks  they  burst : 
They  passed  by  the  Cape  unsleeping 

Of  Phineus'  sons  accurst : 

They  ran  by  the  star-lit  bay 
Upon  magic  surges  sweeping, 

Where  folk  on  the  waves  astray 

Have  seen,  through  the  gleaming  grey, 

Ring  behind  ring,  men  say, 

The  dance  of  the  old  Sea's  daughters. 
20 


43-433   IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

The  guiding  oar  abaft 

It  rippled  and  it  dinned, 
And  now  the  west  wind  laughed 

And  now  the  south-west  wind ; 
And  the  sail  was  full  in  flight. 
And  they  passed  by  the  Island  White : 


Birds,  birds,  everywhere, 
White  as  the  foam,  light  as  the  air; 
And  ghostly  Achilles  raceth  there, 
Far  in  the  Friendless  W^aters. 


[Antistrophe  2. 
Ah,  would  that  Leda's  child  .  .  . 

(So  prayeth  the  priestess  maiden) 
From  Troy,  that  she  beguiled, 
Hither  were  borne,  to  know 

What  sin  on  her  soul  is  laden ! 
Hair  twisted,  throat  held  low,  « 

Head  back  for  the  blood  to  flow, 
To  die  by  the  sword."  .  .  .  Ah  no! 

One  hope  my  soul  yet  hideth. 

A  sail,  a  sail  from  Greece, 

Fearless  to  cross  the  sea, 
With  ransom  and  with  peace 

To  my  sick  captivity. 
O  home,  to  see  thee  still, 
And  the  old  walls  on  the  hiU ! 
21 


EURIPIDES  vv.  454-47^ 

Dreams,  dreams,  gather  to  me ! 
Bear  me  on  wings  over  the  sea ; 
O  joy  of  the  night,  to  slave  and  free, 
One  good  thing  that  abideth! 


Leader. 

But  lo,  the  twain  whom  Thoas  sends, 
Their  arms  in  bondage  grasped  sore ; 
Strange  offering  this,  to  lay  before 

The  Goddess !    Hold  your  peace,  O  friends. 

Onward,  still  onward,  to  this  shrine 
They  lead  the  first-fruits  of  the  Greek. 
'Twas'true,  the  tale  he  came  to  speak, 

That  watcher  of  the  mountain  kine. 

O  holy  one,  if  it  afford 

Thee  joy,  what  these  men  bring  to  thee, 

Take  thou  their  sacrifice,  which  we, 
By  law  of  Hellas,  hold  abhorred. 

Enter  Orestes  and  PyladeS;,  hound,  and  guarded  by 
Taurians.     Re-enter  Iphigenia. 

Iphigenia. 
So  be  it. 

My  foremost  care  must  be  that  nothing  harms 
The  temple's  holy  rule.  —  Untie  their  arms. 
That  which  is  hallowed  may  no  more  be  bound. 
You,  to  the  shrine  within !    Let  all  be  found 
As  the  law  bids,  and  as  we  need  this  day. 

[Orestes  and  Pylades  are  set  free;  some 
Attendants  go  into  the  Temple, 

22 


vv. 47-494  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Ah  me! 

What  mother  then  was  yours,  O  strangers,  say, 

And  father?    And  your  siste^  if  you  have 

A  sister :  both  at  once,  so  young  and  brave 

To  leave  her  brotherless !    Who  knows  when  heaven 

May  send  that  fortune?    For  to  none  is  given 

To  know  the  coming  nor  the  end  of  woe ; 

So  dark  is  God,  and  to  great  darkness  go 

His  paths,  by  blind  chance  mazed  from  our  ken. 

Whence  are  ye  come,  O  most  unhappy  men? 
From  some  far  home,  methinks,  ye  have  found  this 

shore 
And  far  shall  stay  from  home  for  evermore. 

Orestes. 

Why  weepest  thou,  woman,  to  make  worse  the  smart 
Of  that  which  needs  must  be,  whoe'er  thou  art? 
I  count  it  not  for  gentleness,  when  one 
Who  means  to  slay,  seeks  first  to  make  undone 
By  pity  that  sharp  dread.    Nor  praise  I  him. 
With  hope  long  dead,  who  sheddeth  tears  to  dim 
The  pain  that  grips  him  close.    The  evil  so 
Is  doubled  into  twain.    He  doth  but  show 
His  feeble  heart,  and,  as  he  must  have  died, 
Dies. — Let  ill  fortune  float  upon  her  tide 
And  weep  no  more  for  u  s.  What  way  this  land 
Worships  its  god  we  know  and  understand. 

Iphigenia. 
Say  first  .  .  .  which  is  it  men  call  Pylades? 

Orestes. 
'Tis  this  man's  name,  if  that  will  give  thee  ease. 

23 


// 


EURIPIDES  w.  495-504 

Iphigenia.  , 

From  what  walled  town  of  Hellas  cometh  he? 

Orestes. 
Enough! — How  would  the  knowledge  profit  thee? 

Iphigenia. 
Are  ye  two  brethren  of  one  mother  born  ? 

Orestes. 
No,  not  in  blood.     In  love  we  are  brothers  sworn. 

Iphigenia. 
Thou  also  hast  a  name :  tell  me  thereof. 

Orestes. 
Call  me  Unfortunate.    'Tis  name  enough. 

Iphigenia. 
I  asked  not  that.     Let  that  with  Fortune  lie. 

Orestes. 
Fools  cannot  laugh  at  them  that  nameless  die. 

Iphigenia. 
Why  grudge  me  this?    Hast  thou  such  mighty  fame? 

Orestes. 

My  body,  if  thou  wilt,  but  not  my  name. 

24 


w.505-5«3  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Iphigenia. 
Nor  yet  the  land  of  Greece  where  thou  wast  bred? 

Orestes.- 
What  gain  to  have  told  it  thee,  when  I  am  dead  ? 

Iphigenia. 
Nay :  why  shouldst  thou  deny  so  small  a  grace  ? 

Orestes. 
Know  then,  great  Argos  was  my  native  place. 

Iphigenia. 

Stranger!     The  truth!  .  .  .  From  Argos  art  thou 
come? 

Orestes. 
Mycenae,  once  a  rich  land,  was  my  home. 

Iphigenia. 
*Tis  banishment  that  brings  thee  here— or  what? 

Orestes. 
A  kind  of  banishment,  half  forced,  half  sought. 

Iphigenia 
Wouldst  thou  but  tell  me  all  I  need  of  thee! 

25 


EURIPIDES  W.5X4-5-. 

Orestes. 
'Twere  not  much  added  to  my  misery. 

Iphigenia. 
From  Argos !  .  .  .  Oh,  how  sweet  to  see  thee  here ! 

Orestes. 
Enjoy  it,  then.    To  me  'tis  sorry  cheer. 

Iphigenia. 
Thou  knowest  the  name  of  Troy?    Far  doth  it  flit. 

Orestes. 
Would  God  I  had  not ;  nay,  nor  dreamed  of  it. 

Iphigenia. 
Men  fable  it  is  fallen  beneath  the  sword  ? 

Orestes. 
Fallen  it  is.    Thou  hast  heard  no  idle  word. 

Iphigenia. 
Fallen  !    At  last !— And  Helen  taken  too  ? 

Orestes. 
Aye;  on  an  evil  day  for  one  I  knew. 

26 


^'^.5^3-53X    IPHIGENIA    IN    TAURIS 

Iphigenia. 
Where  is  she  ?    I  too  have  some  anger  stored.  .  . 

Orestes. 
In  Sparta  !    Once  more  happy  with  her  lord  ! 

Iphigenia. 
Oh,  hated  of  all  Greece,  not  only  me ! 

Orestes. 
I  too  have  tasted  of  her  wizardry. 

Iphigenia. 

And  came  the  armies  home,  as  the  tales  run  ? 

Orestes. 
To  answer  that  were  many  tales  in  one. 

Iphigenia. 

Oh,  give  me  this  hour  full !    Thou  wilt  soon  die. 

Orestes. 
Ask,  if  such  longing  holds  thee.    I  will  try. 

Iphigenia. 
A  seer  called  Calchas !    Did  he  ever  come  .  .  .  ? 

27 


EURIPIDES  W53.-54X 

Orestes. 
Calchas  is  dead,  as  the  news  went  at  home. 

Iphigenia. 
Good  news,  ye  gods! — Odysseus,  what  of  him? 

Orestes. 
Not  home  yet,  but  still  living,  as  men  deem. 

Iphigenia. 
Curse  him !    And  may  he  see  his  home  no  more. 

Orestes. 
Why  curse  him?    All  his  house  is  stricken  sore. 

Iphigenia. 
How  hath  the  Nereid's  son,  Achilles,  sped  ? 

Orestes. 
Small  help  his  bridal  brought  him !    He  is  dead. 

Iphigenia. 
A  fierce  bridal,  so  the  sufferers  tell ! 

Orestes. 
Who  art  thou,  questioning  of  Greece  so  well  ? 

Iphigenia. 

I  w  a  s  Greek.    Evil  caught  me  long  ago. 

28 


w.54-55t   IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Orestes. 
Small  wonder,  then,  thou  hast  such  wish  to  know. 

Iphigenia. 
That  war-lord,  whom  they  call  so  high  in  bliss.  .  .  . 

Orestes. 
None  such  is  known  to  me.    What  name  was  his? 

Iphigenia. 
They  called  him  Agamemnon,  Atreus*  son. 

Orestes. 
I  know  not.    Cease. —  My  questioning  is  done. 

Iphigenia. 
'Twill  be  such  joy  to  me !    How  fares  he?    Tell ! 

Orestes. 
Dead.    And  hath  wrecked  another's  life  as  well. 

Iphigenia. 
Dead?    By  what  dreadful  fortune?    Woe  is  me! 

Orestes. 
Why  sighst  thou?    Had  he  any  link  with  thee? 

Iphigenia. 

I  did  but  think  of  his  old  joy  and  pride. 

29 


EURIPIDES  vv.  552-560 

Orestes. 
His  own  wife  foully  stabbed  him,  and  he  died. 

Iphigenia. 

0  God! 

1  pity  her  that  slew  .  .  .  and  him  that  slew. 

Orestes. 
Now  cease  thy  questions.    Add  no  word  thereto. 

Iphigenia. 
But  one  word.    Lives  she  still,  that  hapless  wifeH 

Orestes. 
No.    Her  own  son,  her  first-born,  took  her  life. 

Iphigenia. 
O  shipwrecked  house !  What  thought  was  in  his  brain  ? 

Orestes. 
Justice  on  her,  to  avenge  his  father  slain. 

Iphigenia. 
Alas! 
A  bad  false  duty  bravely  hath  he  wrought. 

Orestes. 
Yet  God,  for  all  his  duty,  helps  him  not. 

30     . 


VT.56I-569  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Iphigenia. 
And  not  one  branch  of  Atreus'  tree  lives  on? 

Orestes. 
Electra  lives,  unmated  and  alone. 

Iphigenia. 
The  child  they  slaughtered  ...  is  there  word  of  her? 

Orestes. 
Why,  no,  save  that  she  died  in  Aulis  there. 

Iphigenia. 
Poor  child !    Poor  father,  too,  who  killed  and  lied ! 

Orestes. 
For  a  bad  woman's  worthless  sake  she  died. 

Iphigenia. 
The  dead  king*s  son,  lives  he  in  Argos  still  ? 

Orestes. 
He  lives,  now  here,  now  nowhere,  bent  with  ill.\ 


Iphigenia. 
O  dreams,  light  dreams,  farewell !    Ye  too  were  lies 


..^Vc^^" 

31 


^» 


(H 


EURIPIDES  vy.S7»-593 

Orestes. 

Aye ;  the  gods  too,  whom  mortals  deem  so  wise, 
Are  nothing  clearer  than  some  winged  dream ; 
And  all  their  ways,  like  man's  ways,  but  a  stream 
Of  turmoil.    He  who  cares  to  suffer  least, 
Not  blind,  as  fools  are  blinded,  by  a  priest, 
Goes  straight  ...  to  what  death,  those  who  know  him 
know. 

Leader. 

We  too  have  kinsmen  dear,  but,  being  low, 
None  heedeth,  live  they  still  or  live  they  not. 

Iphigenia   (with  sudden  impulse). 

Listen  !    For  I  -am  fallen  upon  a  thought. 
Strangers,  of  some  good  use  to  you  and  me. 
Both.    And  'tis  thus  most  good  things  come  to  be, 
When  different  eyes  hold  the  same  for  fair. 

Stranger,  if  I  can  save  thee,  wilt  thou  bear 
To  Argos  and  the  friends  who  loved  my  youth 
Some  word?    There  is  a  tablet  which,  in  ruth 
For  me  and  mine  ill  works,  a  prisoner  wrote, 
Ta'en  by  the  king  in  war.    He  knew  'twas  not 
My  will  that  craved  for  blood,  but  One  on  high 
Who  holds  it  righteous  her  due  prey  shall  die. 
And  since  that  day  no  Greek  hath  ever  come 
Whom  I  could  save  and  send  to  Argos  home 
With  prayer  for  help  to  any  friend :  but  thou, 
I  think,  dost  loathe  me  not ;  and  thou  dost  know 
Mycenae  and  the  names  that  fill  my  heart. 
Help  me !    Be  saved !    Thou  also  hast  thy  part, 

32 


vv. 594^x7   IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Thy  life  for  one  light  letter.  .  .  .    (Orestes  looks  at 

Pylades.)     For  thy  friend, 
The  law  compelleth.     He  must  bear  the  end 
By  Artemis  ordained,  apart  from  thee. 

Orestes. 

Strange  woman,  as  thou  biddest  let  it  be, 
Save  one  thing.    'Twere  for  me  a  heavy  weight 
Should  this  man  die.    'Tis  I  and  mine  own  fate 
That  steer  our  goings.    He  but  sails  with  me 
Because  I  suffer  much.    It  must  not  be 
That  by  his  ruin  I  should  'scape  mine  own, 
And  win  thy  grace  withal.    'Tis  simply  done. 
Give  him  the  tablet.    He  with  faithful  will 
Shall  all  thy  best  in  Argolis  fulfil. 
And  I  .  .  .  who  cares  may  kill  me.    Vile  is  he 
Who  leaves  a  friend  in  peril  and  goes  free 
Himself.    And,  as  it  chances,  this  is  one 
Right  dear  to  me ;  his  life  is  as  my  own. 

Iphigenia. 

O  royal  heart !    Surely  from  some  great  seed 

This  branch  is  born,  that  can  so  love  indeed. 

God  grant  the  one  yet  living  of  my  race 

Be  such  as  thou  i    For  not  quite  brotherless 

Am  even  I,  save  that  I  see  him  not. 

Strangers,  .  .  .  Howbeit,  thy  pleasures  shall  be  wrought. 

This  man  shall  bear  the  message,  and  thou  go 

To  death.    So  greatly  thou  wilt  have  it  so ! 

Orestes. 
Where  is  the  priest  who  does  this  cruelty? 

33 


EURIPIDES  w.  6x8-627 

Iphigenia. 
'Tis  I.    This  altar's  spell  is  ouer  me. 

Ores-^es. 
A  grievous  office  and  unblest,  O  maid. 

Iphigenia. 
What  dare  I  do  ?    The  law  must  be  obeyed. 

Orestes. 
A  girl  to  hold  a  sword  and  stab  men  dead ! 

Iphigenia. 
I  shall  but  sign  the  water  on  thy  head. 

Orestes. 
And  who  shall  strike  me,  if  I  needs  must  ask? 

Iphigenia. 
There  be  within  these  vaults  who  know  their  task.  - 

Orestes. 
My  grave,  when  they  have  finished  their  desire? 

Iphigenia. 
A  great  gulf  of  the  rock,  and  holy  fire. 

Orestes. 
Woe's  me ! 
Would  that  my  sister's  hand  could  close  mine  eyes ! 

34 


■w.6.8-^46  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Iphigenia. 

Alas,  she  dwelleth  under  distant  skies, 
Unhappy  one,  and  vain  is  all  thy  prayer. 
Yet,  Oh,  thou  art  from  Argos :  all  of  care 
That  can  be,  I  will  give  and  fail  thee  not. 
Rich  raiment  to  thy  burial  shall  be  brought, 
And  oil  to  cool  thy  pyre  in  golden  floods, 
And  sweet  that  from  a  thousand  mountain  buds 
The  murmuring  bee  hath  garnered,  I  will  throw 
To  die  with  thee  in  fragrance.  .  .  . 

I  must  go 
And  seek  the  tablet  from  the  Goddess'  room 
Within.  —  Oh,  do  not  hate  me  for  my  doom!    . 

Watch  them,  ye  servitors,  but  leave  them  free. 

It  may  be,  past  all  hoping,  it  may  be, 
My  word  shall  sail  to  Argos,  to  his  hand 
Whom  most  I  love.     How  joyous  will  he  stand 
To  know,  past  hope,  that  here  on  the  world's  rim 
His  dead  .are  living,  and  cry  out  for  him ! 

[She  goes  into  the  Temple. 

Chorus. 

Alas,  we  pity  thee ;  surely  we  pity  thee :  [Strophe, 

Who  art  given  over  to  the  holy  water. 

The  drops  that  fall  deadly  as  drops  of  blood. 

Orestes. 
I  weep  not,  ye  Greek  maidens :  but  farewell. 

35 


EURIPIDES  vv.  647-663 

Chorus. 

[Antistrophe. 
Aye,  and  rejoice  with  thee;  surely  rejoice  with  thee, 
Thou  happy  rover  from  the  place  of  slaughter ; 
Thy  foot  shall  stand  again  where  thy  father's 
stood. 

Pylades. 
While  he  I  love  must  die?    'Tis  miserable. 

Divers  Women  of  the  Chorus. 

A.  Alas,  the  deathward  faring  of  the  lost! 

B.  Woe,  woe ;  thou  too  shalt  move  to  misery. 

C.  Which  one  shall  suffer  most  ? 

D.  My  heart  is  torn  by  two  words  evenly, 

For  thee  should  I  most  sorrow,  or  for  thee  ? 

Orestes. 
By  heaven,  is  t  h  y  thought,  Pylades,  like  mine  ? 

Pylades. 
^     O  friend,  I  cannot  speak.— But  what  is  thine? 

Orestes. 
Who  can  the  damsel  be  ?    How  Greek  her  tone 
Of  question,  all  of  Ilion  overthrown, 
And  how  the  kings  came  back,  the  wizard  flame 
Of  Calchas,  and  Achilles'  mighty  name, 

36 


w.  664^86  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

And  ill-starred  Agamemnon.    With  a  keen 

Pity  she  spoke,  and  asked  me  of  his  queen 

And  children.  .  .  .  The  strange  woman  comes  from 

there 
By  race,  an  Argive  maid. — What  aileth  her 
With  tablets,  else,  and  questionings  as  though 
Her  own  heart  beat  with  Argos'  joy  or  woe? 

Pylades. 

Thy  speech  is  quicker,  friend,  else  I  had  said 
The  same ;  though  surely  all  men  visited 
By  ships  have  heard  the  fall  of  the  great  kings. 
But  let  that  be :  I  think  of  other  things.  .  .  . 

Orestes. 
What?    If  thou  hast  need  of  me,  let  it  be  said. 

Pylades. 

I  cannot  live  for  shame  if  thou  art  dead. 

I  sailed  together  with  thee ;  let  us  die 

Together.    What  a  coward  slave  were  I, 

Creeping  through  Argos  and  from  glen  to  glen 

Of  wind-torn  Phocian  hills  !    And  most  of  men — 

For  most  are  bad — will  whisper  how  one  day 

I  left  my  friend  to  die  and  made  my  way 

Home.    They  will  say  I  watched  the  sinking  breath 

Of  thy  great  house  and  plotted  for  thy  death 

To  wed  thy  sister,  climb  into  thy  throne.  .  .  . 

I  dread,  I  loathe  it. — Nay,  all  ways  but  one 

Are  shut.    My  last  breath  shall  go  forth  with  thine, 

Thy  bloody  sword,  thy  gulf  of  fire  be  mine 

Also.    I  love  thee  and  I  dread  men's  scorn. 

37 


EURIPIDES  W.687-7I. 

Orestes. 

Peace  from  such  thoughts  !     My  burden  can  be  borne ; 

But  where  one  pain  sufficeth,  double  pain 

I  will  not  bear.    Nay,  all  that  scorn  and  stain 

That  fright  thee,  on  mine  own  head  worse  w^ould  be 

If  I  brought  death  on  him  who  toiled  for  me.  ' 

It  is  no  bitter  thing  for  such  an  one 

As  God  will  have  me  be,  at  last  to  have  done 

With  living.    T  h  o  u  art  happy ;  thy  house  lies 

At  peace  with  God,  unstained  in  men's  eyes ; 

Mine  is  all  evil  fate  and  evil  life.  .  .  . 

Nay,  thou  once  safe,  my  sister  for  thy  wife — 

So  we  agreed : — in  sons  of  hers  and  thine 

My  name  will  live,  nor  Agamemnon's  line 

Be  blurred  for  ever  like  an  evil  scroll. 

Back  !    Rule  thy  land !    Let  life  be  in  thy  soul ! 

And  when  thou  art  come  to  Hellas,  and  the  plain 

Of  Argos  where  the  horsemen  ride,  again — 

Give  me  thy  hand ! — I  charge  thee,  let  there  be 

Some  death-mound  and  a  graven  stone  for  me. 

My  sister  will  go  weep  thereat,  and  shear 

A  tress  or  two.    Say  how  I  ended  here, 

Slain  by  a  maid  of  Argolis,  beside 

God's  altar,  in  mine  own  blood  purified. 

And  fare  thee  well.    I  have  no  friend  like  thee 
For  truth  and  love,  O  boy  that  played  with  me, 
And  hunted  on  Greek  hills,  O  thou  on  whom 
Hath  lain  the  hardest  burden  of  my  doom ! 
Farewell.    The  Prophet  and  the  Lord  of  Lies 
Hath  done  his  worst.    Far  out  from  Grecian  skies 

38 


W.7X3-730  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

With  craft  forethought  he  driveth  me,  to  die 
Where  none  may  mark  how  ends  his  prophecy ! 
I  trusted  in  his  word.    I  gave  him  all 
My  heart.    I  slew  my  mother  at  his  call ; 
For  which  things  now  he  casts  me  here  to  die. 


Pylades. 

Thy  tomb  shall  fail  thee  not.    Thy  sister  I 

Will  guard  for  ever.    I,  O  stricken  sore, 

Who  loved  thee  living  and  shall  love  thee  more 

Dead.    But  for  all  thou  standest  on  the  brink, 

God's  promise  hath  not  yet  destroyed  thee.    Think ! 

How  oft,  how  oft  the  darkest  hour  of  ill 

Breaks  brightest  into  dawn,  if  Fate  but  will ! 

Orestes. 

Enough.    Nor  god  nor  man  can  any  more 
Aid  me.    The  woman  standeth  at  the  door. 

Enter  Iphigenia  from  the  Temple. 

Iphigenia. 

Go  ye  within ;  and  have  all  things  of  need 

In  order  set  for  them  that  do  the  deed. 

There  wait  my  word.  [Attendants  go  in. 

Ye  strangers,  here  I  hold 
The  many-lettered  tablet,  fold  on  fold. 
Yet  .  .  .  one  thing  still.    No  man,  once  unafraid 
And  safe,  remembereth  all  the  vows  he  made 

39 


EURIPIDES  w.73-74« 

In  fear  of  death.    My  heart  misgiveth  me, 
Lest  he  who  bears  my  tablet,  once  gone  free, 
Forget  me  here  and  set  my  charge  at  naught. 

Orestes. 

What  wouldst  thou,  then?    Thou  hast  some  troubling 
thought. 

Iphigenia. 

His  sworn  oath  let  him  give,  to  bear  this  same 
Tablet  to  Argos,  to  the  friend  I  name. 

Orestes. 
And  if  he  give  this  oath,  wilt  thou  swear  too? 

Iphigenia. 
What  should  I  swear  to  do  or  not  to  do  ? 

Orestes. 
Send  him  from  Tauris  safe  and  free  from  ill. 

Iphigenia. 
I  promise.    How  else  could  he  do  my  will  ? 

Orestes. 
The  King  will  suffer  this  ? 

Iphigenia. 

Yes :  I  can  bend 
The  King,  and  set  upon  his  ship  thy  friend. 

40 


W.743-75X   IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Orestes. 
Choose  then  what  oath  is  best,  and  he  will  swear. 

Iphigenia  {to  Pylades,  who  has  come  up  to  her) 
Say:  "To  thy  friend  this  tablet  I  will  bear." 

Pylades  {taking  the  tablet). 
Good.    I  will  bear  this  tablet  to  thy  friend. 

Iphigenia. 
And  I  save  thee  beyond  this  kingdom's  end. 

Pylades. 
What  god  dost  thou  invoke  to  witness  this? 

Iphigenia. 
Her  in  whose  house  I  labour,  Artemis. 

Pylades. 
And  I  the  Lord  of  Heaven,  eternal  Zeus. 

Iphigenia. 
And  if  thou  fail  me,  or  thine  oath  abuse.  .  .  ? 

Pylades. 
May  I  see  home  no  more.    And  thou,  what  then? 

41 


EURIPIDES  w.7S»-768 

Iphigenia. 
May  this  foot  never  tread  Greek  earth  again. 

Pylades. 
But  stay :  there  is  one  chance  we  have  forgot. 

Iphigenia. 
A  new  oath  can  be  sworn,  if  this  serve  not. 

Pylades. 

In  one  case  set  me  free.    Say  I  be  crossed 
With  shipwreck,  and,  with  ship  and  tablet  lost 
And  all  I  bear,  my  life  be  saved  alone : 
Let  not  this  oath  be  held  a  thing  undone, 
To  curse  me. 

Iphigenia. 

Nay,  then,  many  ways  are  best 
To  many  ends.    The  words  thou  carriest 
Enrolled  and  hid  beneath  that  tablet's  rim, 
I  will  repeat  to  thee,  and  thou  to  him 
I  look  for.    Safer  so.    If  the  scrip  sail 
Unhurt  to  Greece,  itself  will  tell  my  tale 
Unaided :  if  it  drown  in  some  wide  sea. 
Save  but  thyself,  my  words  are  saved  with  thee. 

Pylades. 

For  thy  sake  and  for  mine  'tis  fairer  so. 
Now  let  me  hear  his  name  to  whom  I  go 
In  Argolis,  and  how  my  words  should  run. 

42 


w.769-780  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Iphigenia  {repeatiiig  the  words  by  heart). 

Say :  '  *  To  Orestes,  Agamemnon's  son 

She  that  was  slain  in  Aulis,  dead  to  Greece 

Yet  quick,  Iphigenia  sendeth  peace :" 

Orestes. 
Iphigenia  !    Where  ?    Back  from  the  dead  ? 

Iphigenia. 

'Tis  I.    But  speak  not,  lest  thou  break  my  thread. 
'  *  Take  me  to  Argos,  brother,  ere  I  die, 
Back  from  the  Friendless  Peoples  and  the  high 
Altar  of  Her  whose  bloody  rites  I  wreak." 

Orestes  (aside). 
Where  am  I,  Pylades?    How  shall  I  speak? 

Iphigenia. 

"Else  one  in  grief  forsaken  shall,  like  shame, 
Haunt  thee." 

Pylades  {aside), 

Orestes ! 

Iphigenia  {overhearing  him) . 

Yes :  that  is  the  name. 

Pylades. 
Ye  Gods  above ! 

43 


EURIPIDES  vv.  78^794 

Iphigenia. 

Why  callest  thou  on  God 
For  words  of  mine? 

Pylades. 

'Tis  nothing.    'Twas  a  road 
My  thoughts  had  turned.    Speak  on. — No  need  for  us 
To  question ;  we  shall  hear  things  marvellous. 

Iphigenia. 

Tell  him  that  Artemis  my  soul  did  save, 
I  wot  not  how,  and  to  the  altar  gave 
A  fawn  instead ;  the  which  my  father  slew, 
Not  seeing,  deeming  that  the  sword  he  drew 
Struck  me.    But  she  had  borne  me  far  away 
And  left  me  in  this  land. — I  charge  thee,  say 
So  much.    It  all  is  written  on  the  scroll. 

Pylades. 

An  easy  charge  thou  layest  on  my  soul, 
A  glad  oath  on  thine  own.    I  wait  no  more, 
But  here  fulfil  the  service  that  I  swore. 
Orestes,  take  this  tablet  which  I  bear 
To  thine  own  hand,  thy  sister's  messenger. 

Orestes. 

I  take  it,  but  I  reck  not  of  its  scrip 

Nor  message.    Too  much  joy  is  at  my  lip. 

44 


W.79S-807  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Sister  !  Beloved  !     Wildered  though  I  be, 
My  arms  believe  not,  yet  they  crave  for  thee. 
Now,  filled  with  wonder,  give  me  my  delight ! 

\^He  goes  to  embrace  her.    She  stands  speechless. 

Leader. 

Stranger,  forbear !     No  living  man  hath  right 
To  touch  that  robe.    The  Goddess  were  defiled ! 


Orestes. 

O  Sister  mine,  O  my  dead  father's  child, 
Agamemnon's  child  ;  take  me  and  have  no  fear, 
Beyond  all  dreams  'tis  I  thy  brother  here. 

Iphigenia. 

My  brother  ?    Thou  ?  .  .  .  Peace !    Mock  at  me  no 

more. 
Argos  is  bright  with  him  and  Nauplia's  shore. 

Orestes. 

Unhappy  one !    Thou  hast  no  brother  there. 

Iphigenia. 
Orestes  .  .  .  thou?    Whom  Clytemnestra  bare? 

Orestes. 
To  Atreus'  firstborn  son,  thy  sire  and  mine. 

45 


IPHIGENIA  IN   TAURIS  w.scg-sx; 

Iphigenia. 
Thou  sa5rst  it :  Oh,  give  me  some  proof,  some  sign ! 

Orestes. 
What  sign  thou  wilt.    Ask  anything  from  home. 

Iphigenia. 
Nay,  thou  speak :  'tis  from  thee  the  sign  should  come. 

Orestes. 

That  will  I. — First,  old  tales  Electra  told. 

Thou  knowest  how  Pelops'  princes  warred  of  old  ? 

Iphigenia. 
I  know :  the  Golden  Lamb  that  wrought  their  doom. 

Orestes. 
Thine  own  hand  wove  that  story  on  the  loom.  .  .  . 

Iphigenia. 
How  sweet !    Thou  movest  near  old  memories. 

Orestes. 
With  a  great  Sun  back  beaten  in  the  skies. 

Iphigenia. 

Fine  linen  threads  I  used.    The  memories  come. 

46 


w.8x8-83«  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Ore&tes. 

And  mother  gave  thee  shrift-water  from  home 
For  Aulis.  .  .  . 

Iphigenia. 

I  remember.    Not  so  fair 
A  day  did  drink  that  water ! 

Orestes. 

And  thine  hair 
They  brought  us  for  thy  dying  gift,  and  gave 
To  mother. 

Iphigenia. 

Yes :  for  record  on  the  grave 
I  sent  it,  where  this  head  should  never  lie. 


Orestes. 

Another  token,  seen  of  mine  own  eye. 

The  ancient  lance  that  leapt  in  Pelops'  hand, 

To  win  his  bride,  the  virgin  of  the  land. 

And  smite  Oenomaus,  in  thy  chamber  hid.  .  .  . 


Iphigenia  (falling  into  his  arms) . 

Beloved  !    Oh,  no  other,  for  indeed 
Beloved  art  thou !    In  mine  arms  at  last, 
Orestes  far  away. 

47 


EURIPIDES  vv.  831-841 

Orestes. 

And  thou  in  mine,  the  evil  dreaming  past, 

Back  from  the  dead  this  day ! 
Yet  through  the  joy  tears,  tears  and  sorrow  loud 
Are  o'er  mine  eyes  and  thine  eyes,  like  a  cloud. 

Iphigenia. 

Is  this  the  babe  I  knew. 
The  little  babe,  light  lifted  like  a  bird  ? 
O  heart  of  mine,  too  blest  for  any  word, 

What  shall  I  say  or  do? 
Beyond  all  wonders,  beyond  stories  heard, 
z'.  This  joy  is  here  and  true. 

Orestes. 
Could  we  but  stay  thus  joined  for  evermore ! 

Iphigenia. 

A  joy  is  mine  I  may  not  understand. 
Friends,  and  a  fear,  lest  sudden  from  my  hand 

This  dream  will  melt  and  soar 
Up  to  the  fiery  skies  from  whence  it  came. 

0  Argos  land,  O  hearth  and  holy  flame 

That  old  Cyclopes  lit, 

1  bless  ye  that  he  lives,  that  he  is  grown, 

A  light  and  strength,  my  brother  and  mine  own ; 
I  bless  your  name  for  it. 

Orestes. 

One  blood  we  are ;  so  much  is  well.    But  Fate, 
Sister,  hath  not  yet  made  us  fortunate. 

48 


w.842-866   IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Iphigenia. 

O  most  unfortunate !    Did  I  not  feel, 
Whose  father,  misery-hearted,  at  my  bare 
Throat  held  the  steel  ? 

Orestes. 
Woe's  me !    Methinks  even  now  I  see  thee  there. 


Iphigenia. 

No  love-song  of  Achilles  !    Crafty  arms 

Drew  me  to  that  cold  sleep. 
And  tears,  blind  tears  amid  the  altar  psalms 

And  noise  of  them  that  weep — 
That  was  my  cleansing ! 

Orestes. 

My  heart  too  doth  bleed. 
To  think  our  father  wrought  so  dire  a  deed. 

Iphigenia. 

My  life  hath  known  no  father.    Any  road 

To  any  end  may  run, 
As  god's  will  drives ;  else  .  .  . 

Orestes. 

Else,  unhappy  one, 
Thyself  had  spilt  this  day  thy  brother's  blood ! 

49 


EURIPIDES  w.867-899 

Iphigenia. 
Ah  God,  my  cruel  deed !  .  .  .  'Twas  horrible. 
'Twas  horrible.  .  .  .  O  brother !    Did  my  heart 

Endure  it  ?  .  .  .  And  things  fell 
Right  by  so  frail  a  chance ;  and  here  thou  art. 
Bloody  my  hand  had  been, 
My  heart  heavy  with  sin. 
And  now,  what  end  cometh  ? 
Shall  Chance  yet  comfort  me, 
Finding  a  way  for  thee 
Back  from  the  Friendless  Strand, 
Back  from  the  place  of  death — 
Ere  yet  the  slayers  come 
And  thy  blood  sink  in  the  sand — 
Home  unto  Argos,  home?  .  ,  . 
Hard  heart,  so  swift  to  slay. 
Is  there  to  life  no  way?  .  .  . 

No  ship!  .  .  .  And  how  by  land?  .  .  o 

A  rush  of  feet 
Out  to  the  waste  alone. 

Nay :  'twere  to  meet 
Death,  amid  tribes  unknown 
And  trackless  ways  of  the  waste.  .  .  . 
Surely  the  sea  were  best. 
Back  by  the  narrow  bar 

To  the  Dark  Blue  Gate !  .  .  . 
Ah  God,  too  far,  too  f ar !  .  .  . 
Desolate !    Desolate ! 
What  god  or  man,  what  unimagined  flame, 
^*      Can  cleave  this  road  where  no  road  is,  and  bring 
To  us  last  wrecks  of  Agamemnon's  name, 
Peace  from  long  suffering? 

50 


w.9oc^i6  IPHIGENIA  IN   TAURIS 

Leader. 

Lo,  deeds  of  wonder  and  beyond  surmise, 
Not  as  tales  told,  but  seen  of  mine  own  eyes. 

Pylades. 

Men  that  have  found  the  arms  of  those  they  love 

Would  fain  long  linger  in  the  joy  thereof. 

But  we,  Orestes,  have  no  respite  yet 

For  tears  or  tenderness.    Let  us  forget 

All  but  the  one  word  Freedom,  calling  us 

To  live,  not  die  by  altars  barbarous. 

Think  not  of  joy  in  this  great  hour,  nor  lose 

Fortune's  first  hold.    Not  thus  do  wise  men  use. 

Orestes. 

I  think  that  Fortune  watcheth  o'er  our  lives, 
Surer  than  we.    But  well  said :  he  who  strives   ■^ 
Will  find  his  gods  strive  for  him  equally. 

Iphigenia. 

He  shall  not  check  us  so,  nor  baffle  me 

Of  this  one  word.    How  doth  Electra  move 

Through  life?    Ye  twain  are  all  I  have  to  love* 

Orestes. 
A  wife  and  happy :  this  man  hath  her  hand. 

Iphigenia. 
And  what  man's  son  is  he,  and  of  what  land  ? 

51 


EURIPIDES  w.917-^.5 

Orestes. 
Son  of  King  Strophios  he  is  called  of  men. 

Iphigenia. 
Whom  Atreus'  daughter  wed? — My  kinsman  then. 

Orestes. 
Our  cousin,  and  my  true  and  only  friend. 

Iphigenia. 
He  was  not  born,  when  I  went  to  mine  end. 

Orestes. 
No,  Strophios  had  no  child  for  many  a  year. 

Iphigenia. 
I  give  thee  hail,  husband  of  one  so  dear. 

Orestes. 
My  more  than  kinsman,  saviour  in  my  need ! 

Iphigenia. 
But  mother.  .  .  .  Speak:  how  did  ye  dare  that  deed? 

Orestes. 
Our  father's  wrongs.  .  .  .  But  let  that  story  be. 

52 


w.9.6-934  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Iphigenia. 
And  she  to  slay  her  king !    What  cause  had  she? 

Orestes. 
Forget  her !  .  .  .  And  no  tale  for  thee  it  is. 

Iphigenia. 
So  be  it. — And  thou  art  Lord  of  Argolis? 

Orestes. 
Our  uncle  rules.     I  walk  an  exile's  ways. 

Iphigenia. 
Doth  he  so  trample  on  our  fallen  days? 

Orestes. 
Nay :  there  be  those  that  drive  me,  Shapes  of  Dread. 

Iphigenia. 
Ah! 
That  frenzy  on  the  shore  !    'Tis  as  they  said.  .  .  . 

Orestes. 

They  saw  me  in  mine  hour.    It  needs  must  be. 

• 

Iphigenia. 

'Twas  our  dead  mother's  Furies  hounding  thee !    ^ 

53 


EURIPIDES  vv.935^sx 

Orestes. 
My  mouth  is  bloody  with  the  curb  they  ride. 

Iphigenia. 
What  brought  thee  here  beyond  the  Friendless  Tide? 

Orestes. 
What  leads  me  everywhere — Apollo's  word. 

Iphigenia. 
Seeking  what  end? — Or  may  the  tale  be  heard? 

Orestes. 

Nay,  I  can  tell  thee  all.    It  needs  must  be 
The  whole  tale  of  my  days  of  misery. 

When  this  sore  evil  that  we  speak  not  of 
Lit  on  my  hand,  this  way  and  that  they  drove 
My  body,  till  the  God  by  diverse  paths 
Led  me  to  Athens,  that  the  nameless  Wraths 
Might  bring  me  before  judgment.     For  that  land 
A  pure  tribunal  hath,  where  Ares'  hand. 
Red  from  an  ancient  stain,  by  Zeus  was  sent 
For  justice.    Thither  came  I ;  and  there  went 
God's  hate  before  me,  that  at  first  no  man 
Would  give  me  shelter.    Then  some  few  began 
To  pity,  and  set  out  for  me  aloof 
One  table.    There  I  sate  within  their  roof, 
But  without  word  they  signed  to  me,  as  one 
Apart,  unspoken  to,  unlocked  upon, 

.^4 


w.953-983  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Lest  touch  of  me  should  stain  their  meat  and  sup. 

And  every  man  in  measure  filled  his  cup 

And  gave  me  mine,  and  took  their  joy  apart, 

While  I  sat  silent ;  for  I  had  no  heart 

To  upbraid  the  hosts  that  fed  me.    On  I  wrought 

In  my  deep  pain,  feigning  to  mark  them  not. 

And  now,  men  say,  mine  evil  days  are  made 
A  rite  among  them  and  the  cups  are  laid 
Apart  for  each.    The  rule  abideth  still. 

Howbeit,  when  I  was  come  to  Ares'  Hill 
They  gave  me  judgment.     On  one  stone  I  stood, 
On  one  she  that  was  eldest  of  the  brood 
That  hunted  me  so  long.    And  many  a  word 
Touching  my  mother's  death  was  spoke  and  heard, 
Till  Phoebus  rose  to  save  me.    Even  lay 
The  votes  of  Death  and  Life ;  when,  lo,  a  sway 
Of  Pallas'  arm,  and  free  at  last  I  stood 
From  that  death  grapple.     But  the  Shapes  of  Blood — 
Some  did  accept  the  judgment,  and  of  grace 
Consent  to  make  their  house  beneath  that  place 
In  darkness.     Others  still  consented  not, 
But  clove  to  me  the  more,  like  bloodhounds  hot 
On  the  dying ;  till  to  Phoebus'  house  once  more 
I  crept,  and  cast  me  starving  on  the  floor 
Facing  the  Holy  Place,  and  made  my  cry : 
' '  Lord  Phoebus,  here  I  am  come,  and  here  will  die. 
Unless  thou  save  me,  as  thou  hast  betrayed." 
And,  lo,  from  out  that  dark  and  golden  shade 
A  voice  :  '  *  Go,  seek  the  Taurian  citadel : 
Seize  there  the  carven  Artemis  that  fell  / 

From  heaven,  and  stablish  it  on  Attic  soil. 
So  comes  thy  freedom."  [Iphigenia  shrinks. 

Sister,  in  this  toil 

55 


EURIPIDES  VV.984-X002 

Help  us ! — If  once  that  image  I  may  win 
That  day  shall  end  my  madness  and  my  sin : 
And  thou,  to  Argos  o'er  the  sundering  foam 
My  many-oared  barque  shall  bear  thee  home. 

O  sister  loved  and  lost,  O  pitying  face, 
Help  my  great  peril ;  help  our  father's  race. 
For  lost  am  I  and  perished  all  the  powers 
Of  Pelops,  save  that  heavenly  thing  be  ours ! 


Leader. 

Strange  wrath  of  God  hath  fallen,  like  hot  rain, 
On  Tantalus'  house :  he  leadeth  them  through  pain.*^ 

Iphigenia. 

Long  ere  you  came  my  heart  hath  yearned  to  be 

In  Argos,  brother,  and  so  near  to  thee : 

But  now — thy  will  is  mine.    To  ease  thy  pain, 

To  lift  our  father's  house  to  peace  again. 

And  hate  no  more  my  murderers — aye,  'tis  good. 

Perchance  to  clean  this  hand  that  sought  thy  blood, 

And  save  my  people  ... 

But  the  goddess'  eyes, 
How  dream  we  to  deceive  them  ?    Or  what  wise 
Escape  the  King,  when  on  his  sight  shall  fall 
The  blank  stone  of  the  empty  pedestal  ?  ...  ^ 

I  needs  must  die.  .  .  .  What  better  can  I  do  ? 

And  yet,  one  chance  there  is :  could  I  but  go 
Together  with  the  image :  couldst  thou  bear 
Both  on  the  leaping  seas !    The  risk  were  fair. 
But  how? 

S6 


W.XOO.-XO.O  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS      ' 

Nay,  I  must  wait  then  and  be  slain : 
Thou  shalt  walk  free  in  Argolis  again, 
And  all  life  smile  on  thee.  .  .  .  Dearest,  we  need 
Nor  shrink  from  that.    I  shall  by  mine  own  deed 
Have  saved  thee.    And  a  man  gone  from  the  earth 
Is  wept  for.    Women  are  but  little  worth. 


Orestes. 

My  mother  and  then  thou?    It  may  not  be. 
This  hand  hath  blood  enough.     I  stand  with  thee 
One-hearted  here,  be  it  for  life  or  death. 
And  either  bear  thee,  if  God  favoureth, 
With  me  to  Greece  and  home,  or  else  lie  here 
Dead  at  thy  side. — But  mark  me :  if  thou  fear 
Lest  Artemis  be  wroth,  how  can  that  be  ? 
Hath  not  her  brother's  self  commanded  me 
To  bear  to  Greece  her  image? — Oh,  he  knew 
Her  will !     He  knew  that  in  this  land  we  two 
Must  meet  once  more.    All  that  so  far  hath  past 
Doth  show  his  work.     He  will  not  at  the  last 
Fail.    We  shall  yet  see  Argos,  thou  and  I. 


Iphigenia. 

To  steal  for  thee  the  image,  yet  not  die 

Myself !    'Tis  that  we  need.     'Tis  that  doth  kill 

My  hope.    Else.  .  .  .  Oh,  God  knows  I  have  the  will ! 


Orestes. 
How  if  we  slew  your  savage  king? 

57 


EURIPIDES  vv.  1021-1026 

Iphigenia. 

Ah,  no: 
He  sheltered  me,  a  stranger. 


Orestes. 

Even  so, 
If  it  bring  life  for  me  and  thee,  the  deed 
May  well  be  dared. 

Iphigenia. 

I  could  not.  .  .  .  Nay;  indeed 
I  thank  thee  for  thy  daring. 


Orestes. 

Canst  thou  hide 
My  body  in  the  shrine  ? 

Iphigenia. 

There  to  abide 
Till  nightfall,  and  escape  ? 


Orestes. 

Even  so ;  the  night 
Is  the  safe  time  for  robbers,  as  the  light 
For  just  men. 

58 


W.X0.7-I034  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Iphigenia. 

There  be  sacred  watchers  there 
Who  needs  must  see  us. 

Orestes. 

Gods  above !    What  prayer 
Can  help  us  then  ? 

Iphigenia. 

I  think  I  dimly  see 
One  chance. 

Orestes. 

What  chance  ?    Speak  out  thy  fantasy. 

Iphigenia. 
On  thine  affliction  I  would  build  my  way. 

Orestes. 
Women  have  strange  devices. 

Iphigenia. 

I  would  say 
Thou  com'st  from  Hellas  with  thy  mother's  blood    ^ 
Upon  thee. 

Orestes. 

Use  my  shame,  if  any  good 
Will  follow. 

59 


EURIPIDES  w.  X035-1041 


Iphigenia. 


Therefore,  an  ojTence  most  high 
It  were  to  slay  thee  to  the  goddess ! 


Though  I  half  guess. 


Orestes. 

Why? 

Iphigenia. 


Thy  body  is  unclean. 
Oh,  I  will  fill  them  with  the  fear  of  sin ! 


Orestes. 
What  help  is  that  for  the  Image? 

Iphigenia. 

I  will  crave 
To  cleanse  thee  in  the  breaking  of  the  wave. 

Orestes. 

That  leaves  the  goddess  still  inside  her  shrine, 
And  'tis  for  her  we  sailed. 

Iphigenia. 

A  touch  of  thine 
Defiled  her.    She  too  must  be  purified. 

60 


W.X043-X049  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Orestes. 

Where  shall  it  be  ?    Thou  knowest  where  the  tide 
Sweeps  up  in  a  long  .channel  ? 

Iphigenia. 

Yes !    And  where 
Your  ship,  I  guess,  lies  moored. 

Orestes. 

Whose  hand  will  bear- 
Should  it  be  thine? — the  image  from  her  throne? 

Iphigenia. 

No  hand  of  man  may  touch  it  save  mine  own. 

Orestes. 
And  Pylades — what  part  hath  he  herein? 

Iphigenia. 
The  same  as  thine.    He  bears  the  self-same  sin. 

Orestes. 

How  wilt  thou  work  the  plan — hid  from  the  king 
Or  known? 

Iphigenia. 

To  hide  it  were  a  hopeless  thing.  .  .  . 
Oh,  I  will  face  him,  make  him  yield  to  me. 

6i 


EURIPIDES  W.1050-1067 

Orestes. 
Well,  fifty  oars  lie  waiting  on  the  sea. 

Iphigenia. 
Aye,  there  comes  thy  work,  till  an  end  be  made. 


Orestes. 

Good.    It  needs  only  that  these  women  aid 
Our  secret.    Do  thou  speak  with  them,  and  find 
Words  of  persuasion.     Power  is  in  the  mind 
Of  woman  to  wake  pity. — For  the  rest, 
God  knoweth :  may  it  all  end  for  the  best !  " 


Iphigenia. 

0  women,  you  my  comrades,  in  your  eyes 

1  look  to  read  my  fate.    In  you  it  lies. 
That  either  I  find  peace,  or  be  cast  down 
To  nothing,  robbed  for  ever  of  mine  own — 
Brother,  and  home,  and  sister  pricelessly 
Beloved. — Are  we  not  women,  you  and  I, 
A  broken  race,  to  one  another  true. 

And  strong  in  our  shared  secrets  ?    Help  me  through 
This  strait ;  keep  hid  the  secret  of  our  flight, 
And  share  our  peril !    Honour  shineth  bright 
On  her  whose  lips  are  steadfast.  .  .  .  Heaven  above ! 
Three  souls,  but  one  in  fortune,  one  in  love, 
Thou  seest  us  go — is  it  to  death  or  home? 
If  home,  then  surely,  surely,  there  shall  come 

62 


vv,:o68-xo86   IPHIGENIA    IN    TAURIS 

Part  of  our  joy  to  thee.    I  swear,  I  swear 
To  aid  thee  also  home.  ...  ^ 

[She  goes  to  one  after  another,  and  presently 
kneels  embracing  the  knees  of  the  Leader. 
I  make  my  prayer 
By  that  right  hand ;  to  thee,  too,  by  that  dear 
Cheek ;  by  thy  knees ;  by  all  that  is  not  here 
Of  things  beloved,  by  mother,  father,  child — 
Thou  hadst  a  child  ! — How  say  ye?    Have  ye  smiled 
Or  turned  from  me  ?    For  if  ye  turn  away, 
I  and  my  brother  are  lost  things  this  day. 

Leader. 

Be  of  good  heart,  sweet  mistress.    Only  go 
To  happiness.    No  child  of  man  shall  know 
From  us  thy  secret.    Hear  me,  Zeus  on  high ! 

Iphigenia  (rising). 

God  bless  you  for  that  word,  and  fill  your  eye 
With  light! —         [Turning  to  Orestes  and  Pylades. 
But  now,  to  work !     Go  thou,  and  thou, 
In  to  the  deeper  shrine.    King  Thoas  now 
Should  soon  be  here  to  question  if  the  price 
Be  yet  paid  of  the  strangers'  sacrifice. 

[Orestes  and  Pylades  go  in. 
Thou  Holy  One,  that  on  the  shrouded  sand 
Of  Aulis  saved  me  from  a  father's  hand 
Blood-maddened,  save  me  now,  and  save  these  twain. 
Else  shall  Apollo's  lips,  through  thy  disdain, 
Be  no  more  true  nor  trusted  in  men's  eyes. 
Come  from  the  friendless  shore,  the  cruel  skies, 

63 


^. 


EURIPIDES  VV.X087-X00 

Come  back :  what  mak'st  thou  here,  when  o'er  the  sea 
A  clean  and  joyous  land  doth  call  for  thee? 

[She  follows  the  7nen  into  the  Temple. 

Chorus.  {Strophe  i. 

Bird  of  the  sea  rocks,  of  the  bursting  spray, 

O  halcyon  bird. 
That  wheelest  crying,  crying,  on  thy  way; 
Who  knoweth  grief  can  read  the  tale  of  thee : 
One  love  long  lost,  one  song  for  ever  heard 
And  wings  that  sweep  the  sea. 

Sister,  I  too  beside  the  sea  complain, 

A  bird  that  hath  no  wing. 
Oh,  for  a  kind  Greek  market-place  again, 
For  Artemis  that  healeth  woman's  pain ; 

Here  I  stand  hungering. 
Give  me  the  little  hill  above  the  sea. 
The  palm  of  Delos  fringed  delicately, 
The  young  sweet  laurel  and  the  olive-tree 

Grey-leaved  and  glimmering; 
O  Isle  of  Leto^  Isle  of  pain  and  love; 

The  Orbed  Water  and  the  spell  thereof;  ^ 

Where  still  the^wan,  minstrel  of  things  to  be,  <»fii^^^^'^  y 

Doth  serve  the  Muse  and  sing !  *^i^ 

[Antistrophe  I. 
Ah,  the  old  tears,  the  old  and  blinding  tears 

I  gave  God  then, 
When  my  town  fell,  and  noise  was  in  mine  ears 
Of  crashing  towers,  and  forth  they  guided  me 
Through  spears  and  lifted  oars  and  angry  men 

Out  to  an  unknown  sea. 

64 


vv..nxii36  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

They  bought  my  flesh  with  gold,  and  sore  afraid 

I  came  to  this  dark  East 
To  serve,  in  thrall  to  Agamemnon's  maid, 
This  Huntress  Artemis,  to  whom  is  paid 

The  blood  of  no  slain  beast ; 
Yet  all  is  bloody  where  I  dwell,  Ah  me ! 
Envying,  envying  that  misery 
That  through  all  life  hath  endured  changelessly. 

For  hard  things  borne  from  birth 
Make  iron  of  man's  heart,  and  hurt  the  less. 
'Tis  change  that  paineth ;  and  the  bitterness 
Of  life's  decay  when  joy  hath  ceased  to  be 

That  makes  dark  all  the  earth. 


Behold,  [Strophe  2. 

Two  score  and  ten  there  be 
Rowers  that  row  for  thee, 
And  a  wild  hill  air,  as  if  Pan  were  there, 
Shall  sound  on  the  Argive  sea, 
Piping  to  set  thee  free. 

Or  is  it  the  stricken  string 
Of  Apollo's  lyre  doth  sing 
Joyously,  as  he  guideth  thee 

To  Athens,  the  land  of  spring.; 
While  I  wait  wearying? 

Oh,  the  wind  and  the  oar, 
When  the  great  sail  swells  before, 
With  sheets  astrain,  like  a  horse  on  the  rein ; 
And  on,  through  the  race  and  roar, 
She  feels  for  the  farther  shore. 

65 


^ 


EURIPIDES  w.  1x37-1156 

Ah  me,  [Antistrophe  2. 

To  rise  upon  wings  and  hold 
Straight  on  up  the  steeps  of  gold 
Where  the  joyous  Sun  in  fire  doth  run, 
Till  the  wings  should  faint  and  fold 
O'er  the  house  that  was  mine  of  old: 

Or  watch  where  the  glade  below 
With  a  marriage  dance  doth  glow, 
And  a  child  will  glide  from  her  mother's  side 
Out,  out,  where  the  dancers  flow : 
As  I  did,  long  ago. 

Oh,  battles  of  gold  and  rare 
Raiment  and  starred  hair. 
And  bright  veils  crossed  amid  tresses  tossed 
In  a  dusk  of  dancing  air ! 
O  Youth  and  the  days  that  were ! 


\  

Enter  King  Thoas,  with  Soldiers. 

Thoas. 

Where  is  the  warden  of  this  sacred  gate. 
The  Greek  woman  ?    Is  her  work  ended  yet 
With  those  two  strangers?    Do  their  bodies  lie 
Aflame  now  in  the  rock-cleft  sanctuary  ? 

Leader. 

Here  is  herself,  O  King,  to  give  thee  word. 

66 


vv.xts7-"64  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Enter  J  from  the  Temple,  Iphigenia^  carrying 
the  Image  on  high. 


Thoas. 

How,  child  of  Agamemnon !     Hast  thou  stirred 
From  her  eternal  base,  and  to  the  sun 
Bearest  in  thine  own  arms,  the  Holy  One? 

Iphigenia. 
Back  Lord !    No  step  beyond  the  pillared  way. 

Thoas. 
But  how?    Some  rule  is  broken? 

Iphigenia. 

I  unsay 
That  word.    Be  all  unspoken  and  unwrought ! 

Thoas. 

What  means  this  greeting  strange?    Disclose  thy 
thought. 

Iphigenia. 
Unclean  the  prey  was  that  ye  caught,  O  King. 

Thoas. 
Who  showed  thee  so  ?    Thine  own  imagining  ?  - 

67 


EURIPIDES  w.ix65-xx„ 

Iphigenia. 
The  Image  stirred  and  shuddered  from  its  seat. 

Thoas. 
Itself?  .  .  .  Some  shock  of  earthquake  loosened  it. 

Iphigenia. 
Itself.    And  the  eyes  closed  one  breathing  space. 

Thoas. 
But  why  ?    For  those  two  men's  bloodguiltiness  ? 

Iphigenia. 
That,  nothing  else.    For,  Oh,  their  guilt  is  sore. 

Thoas. 
They  killed  some  of  my  herdsmen  on  the  shore  ? 

Iphigenia. 
Their  sin  was  brought  from  home,  not  gathered  here. 

Thoas. 
What?    I  must  know  this. — Make  thy  story  clear. 

Iphigenia.    {She  puts  the  Image  down  aiid  moves 
Clearer  to  Thoas.) 

The  men  have  slain  their  mother. 

68 


W.XX74-.X8.  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Thoas. 

God !    And  these 
Be  Greeks ! 

Iphigenia. 
They  both  are  hunted  out  of  Greece. 

Thoas. 
For  this  thou  has  brought  the  Image  to  the  sun? 

Iphigenia. 
The  fire  of  heaven  can  cleanse  all  malison. 

Thoas. 
How  didst  thou  first  hear  of  their  deed  of  shame  ? 

Iphigenia. 
When  the  Image  hid  its  eyes,  I  questioned  them. 

Thoas. 
Good.    Greece  hath  taught  thee  many  a  subtle  art. 

Iphigenia. 
Ah,  they  too  had  sweet  words  to  move  my  heart. 

Thoas. 

Sweet  words  ?    How,  did  they  bring  some  news  of 
Greece  ?  . 

69 


EURIPIDES  W.1X83-1190 

Iphigenia. 
Orestes,  my  one  brother,  lives  in  peace. 

Thoas. 
Surely !    Good  news  to  make  thee  spare  their  lives.  .  .  . 

Iphigenia. 
My  father  too  in  Argos  lives  and  thrives. 

Thoas. 
While  thou  didst  think  but  of  the  goddess'  laws ! 

Iphigenia. 
Do  I  not  hate  all  Greeks?    Have  I  not  cause? 

Thoas. 

Good  cause.     But  now.  .  .  .  What  service  should  be 
paid? 

Iphigenia. 
The  Law  of  long  years  needs  must  be  obeyed. 

Thoas. 

To  work  then,  with  thy  sword  and  handwashing ! 

70 


W.IX9T-M99  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Iphigenia. 
First  I  must  shrive  them  with  some  cleansing  thing. 

Thoas. 
What?    Running  water,  or  the  sea's  salt  spray? 

Iphigenia. 

\^ 
The  sea  doth  wash  all  the  world's  ills  away. 

Thoas. 
For  sure.    'Twill  make  them  cleaner  for  the  knife. 

Iphigenia. 
And  my  hand,  too,  cleaner  for  all  my  life. 

Thoas. 
Well,  the  waves  lap  close  by  the  temple  floor. 

Iphigenia. 
We  need  a  secret  place.    I  must  do  more. 

Thoas. 
Some  rite  unseen?    'Tis  well.    Go  where  thou  wilt. 

Iphigenia. 
The  Image  likewise  must  be  purged  of  guilt. 

71 


EURIPIDES 


w.  1 20©- J  205 


Thoas. 

The  stain  hath  touched  it  of  that  mother's  blood? 

Iphigenia. 
I  durst  not  move  it  else,  from  where  it  stood. 

Thoas. 

How  good  thy  godliness  and  forethought !     Aye, 
Small  wonder  all  our  people  holds  thee  high. 

Iphigenia. 
Dost  know  then  what  I  fain  would  have? 

Thoas. 
'Tis  thine  to  speak  and  it  shall  be. 

Iphigenia. 
Put  bondage  on  the  strangers  both.  ... 

Thoas. 
Why  bondage?    Whither  can  they  flee? 

Iphigenia. 

Put  not  thy  faith  in  any  Greek. 

72 


w.i«,5-i209  IPHIGENIA  IN   TAURIS 

Thoas  {to  Attendants). 

Ho,  men  !    Some  thongs  and  fetters,  go ! 

Iphigenia. 

Stay ;  let  them  lead  the  strangers  here,  outside  the 
shrine.  .  .  . 

Thoas.    ' 

It  shall  be  so. 

Iphigenia. 

And  lay  dark  raiment  on  their  heads.  .  .  . 

Thoas. 
To  veil  them,  lest  the  Sun  should  see. 

Iphigenia. 
And  lend  mc  some  of  thine  own  spears. 

Thoas. 
This  company  shall  go  with  thee. 

Iphigenia. 
Next,  send  through  all  the  city  streets  a  herald.  .  .  , 

Thoas. 

Aye ;  and  what  to  say  ? 
73 


EURIPIDES  w.i«o-.«s 

Iphigenia. 
That  no  man  living  stir  abroad. 

Thoas. 
The  stain  of  blood  might  cross  their  way. 

Iphigenia. 
Aye,  sin  like  theirs  doth  spread  contagion. 

Thoas  {to  an  Attendant). 

Forth,  and  publish  my  command.  .  .  , 

Iphigenia. 
That  none  stir  forth — nor  look.  .  .  . 

Thoas. 
Nor  look. — How  well  thou  carest  for  the  land! 

Iphigenia. 
^l       For  one  whom  I  am  bound  to  love. 

Thoas. 
Indeed,  I  think  thou  hat'st  me  not. 

Iphigenia. 

And  thou  meanwhile,  here  at  the  temple,  wait,  O  King, 
and  .  .  • 

74 


w.r.z5-.«9  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Thoas. 

Wait  for  what  ? 
Iphigenia. 
Purge  all  the  shrine  with  fire. 

Thoas. 
'Twill  all  be  clean  before  you  come  again. 

Iphigenia.  \ 

And  while  the  strangers  pass  thee  close,  seeking  the 
sea.  .  .  . 

Thoas. 

What  wouldst  thou  then? 

Iphigenia. 
Put  darkness  on  thine  eyes. 

Thoas. 
Mine  eyes  might  drink  the  evil  of  their  crime  ? 

Iphigenia. 
And,  should  I  seem  to  stay  too  long.  .  .  . 

Thoas. 
Too  long?    How  shall  I  judge  the  time? 
75 


EURIPIDES  w.iaao-iaa^ 

Iphigenia. 
Be  not  dismayed. 

Thoas. 
Perform  thy  rite  all  duly.    We  have  time  to  spare. 

Iphigenia. 
And  God  but  grant  this  cleansing  end  as  I  desire ! 

Thoas. 

I  join  thy  prayer. 

Iphigenia. 

The  door  doth  open  !    See,  they  lead  the  strangers  from 

the  cell  within, 
And  raiment  holy  and  young  lambs,  whose  blood  shall 

shrive  the  blood  of  Sin. 
And,  lo,  the  light  of  sacred  fires,  and  things  of  secret 

power,  arrayed 
By  mine  own  hand  to  cleanse  aright  the  strangers,  to 

cleanse  Leto's  Maid. 

[She  fakes  up  the  Image  again. 
There  passeth  here  a  holy  thing:  begone,  I  charge  ye, 

from  the  road, 
O  whoso  by  these  sacred  gates  may  dwell,  hand-conse- 
crate to  God, 
What  man  hath  marriage  in  his  heart,  what  woman 

goeth  great  with  child, 
Begone  and  tremble  from  this  road :  fly  swiftly,  lest  ye 

be  defiled. — 

76 


W...30-Z.44  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

O  Queen  and  Virgin,  Leto-born,  have  pity!     Let  me 

cleanse  this  stain, 
And  pray  to  thee  where  pray  I  would:  a  clean  house 

shall  be  thine  again, 
And  we  at  last  win  happiness. — Behold,  I  speak  but  as 

I  dare; 
The  rest.  .  .  .  Oh,  God  is  wise,  and  thou,  my  Mistress, 
thou  canst  read  my  prayer. 

\^The  procession  passes  out,  Thoas  and  the  by- 
standers veiled;  Attendants  in  front,  then 
Iphigenia  with  the  Image,  then  veiled  Sol- 
diers, then  Orestes  and  Pylades  bound, 
the  bonds  held  by  other  veiled  Soldiers  fol- 
lowing them.    Thoas  goes  into  the  Temple, 


Chorus.  [Strophe, 

Oh,  fair  the  fruits  of  Leto  blow : 
A  Virgin,  one,  with  joyous  bow, 
And  one  a  Lord  of  flashing  locks, 

Wise  in  the  harp,  Apollo  : 
She  bore  them  amid  Delian  rocks. 

Hid  in  a  fruited  hollow. 


But  forth  she  fared  from  that  low  reef, 

Sea-cradle  of  her  joy  and  grief. 

A  crag  she  knew  more  near  the  skies 

And  lit  with  wilder  water. 
That  leaps  with  joy  of  Dionyse : 

There  brought  she  son  and  daughter. 

77. 


EURIPIDES  w.xa4S-"69 

And  there,  behold,  an  ancient  Snake, 
Wine-eyed,  bronze-gleaming  in  the  brake 
Of  deep-leaved  laurel,  ruled  the  dell, 

'Sent  by  old  Earth  from  under 
Strange  caves  to  guard  her  oracle — 
A  thing  of  fear  and  wonder. 

Thou,  Phoebus,  still  a  new-born  thing, 

Meet  in  thy  mother's  arms  to  lie. 
Didst  kill  the  Snake  and  crown  thee  king, 

In  Pytho's  land  of  prophecy: 
Thine  was  the  tripod  and  the  chair 
Of  golden  truth ;  and  throned  there, 
Hard  by  the  streams  of  Castaly, 

Beneath  the  untrodden  portal 
Of  Earth's  mid  stone  there  flows  from  thee 

Wisdom  for  all  things  mortal. 

[Antistrophe. 
He  slew  the  Snake ;  he  cast,  men  say, 
Themis,  the  child  of  Earth,  away 
From  Pytho  and  her  hallowed  stream ; 

Then  Earth,  in  dark  derision. 
Brought  forth  the  Peoples  of  the  Dream 

And  all  the  tribes  of  Vision. 

And  men  besought  them ;  and  from  deep 

Confused  underworlds  of  sleep 

They  showed  blind  things  that  erst  had  been 

And  are  and  yet  shall  follow 
So  did  avenge  that  old  Earth  Queen 

Her  child's  wrong  on  Apollo. 

78 


w.ia7o.x.9o  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Then  swiftly  flew  that  conquering  one 
To  Zeus  on  high,  and  round  the  throne 
Twining  a  small  indignant  hand, 

Prayed  him  to  send  redeeming 
To  Pytho  from  that  troublous  band 

Sprung  from  the  darks  of  dreaming. 

Zeus  laughed  to  see  the  babe,  I  trow, 
So  swift  to  claim  his  golden  rite ; 
He  laughed  and  bowed  his  head,  in  vow 
To  still  those  voices  of  the  night. 
And  so  from  out  the  eyes  of  men 
That  dark  dream-truth  was  lost  again ; 
And  Phoebus,  throned  where  the  throng 

Prays  at  the  golden  portal, 
Again  doth  shed  in  sunlit  song 

Hope  unto  all  things  mortal. 


Enter  a  Messenger,  running. 

Messenger. 

Ho,  watchers  of  the  fane  !    Ho,  altar-guard, 
Where  is  King  Thoas  gone?    Undo  the  barred 
Portals,  and  call  the  King !    The  King  I  seek. 

Leader. 
What  tidings— if  unbidden  I  may  speak? 

Messenger. 

The  strangers  both  are  gone,  and  we  beguiled, 
By  some  dark  plot  of  Agamemnon's  child ; 

79 


EURIPIDES  w.  1291-1303 

Fled  from  the  land  !    And  on  a  barque  of  Greece 
They  bear  the  heaven-sent  shape  of  Artemis. 

Leader. 

Thy  tale  is  past  belief. — Go,  swiftly  on, 
And  find  the  King.    He  is  but  newly  gone. 

Messenger. 
Where  went  he  ?    He  must  know  of  what  has  passed ! 

Leader. 

I  know  not  where  he  went.    But  follow  fast 
And  seek  him.    Thou  wilt  light  on  him  ere  long. 

Messenger. 

See  there !    The  treason  of  a  woman's  tongue ! 
Ye  all  are  in  the  plot,  I  warrant  ye ! 

Leader. 

Thy  words  are  mad !    What  are  the  men  to  me  ?  .  .  . 
Go  to  the  palace,  go  ! 

Messenger  (seeing  the  great  knocker  on  the 
Temple  door.) 
I  will  not  stir 
Till  word  be  come  by  this  good  messenger 
If  Thoas  be  within  these  gates  or  no. — 

[Thundering  at  the  door, 

80 


w.i304-ni7  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Ho,  loose  the  portals  !    Ye  within  !    What  ho ! 
Open,  and  tell  our  master  one  doth  stand 
Without  here,  with  strange  evil  in  his  hand. 


Enter  Thoas  from  the  Temple. 

Thoas. 

Who  dares  before  this  portal  consecrate 
Make  uproar  and  lewd  battering  of  the  gate? 
Thy  noise  hath  broke  the  Altar's  ancient  peace. 

Messenger. 

Ye  Gods !    They  swore  to  me — and  bade  me  cease 
My  search— the  King  was  gone.     And  all  the 
while.  .  .   ! 

Thoas. 

These  women?     How?     What  sought  they  by  such  v^-^P^- 
guile  ? 

Messenger. 

Of  them  hereafter! — Give  me  first  thine  ear 
For  greater  things.    The  virgin  minister 
That  served  our  altar,  she  hath  fled  from  this 
And  stolen  the  dread  Shape  of  Artemis, 
With  those  two  Greeks.    The  cleansing  was  a  lie. 

Thoas. 
She  fled? — What  wild  hope  whispered  her  to  fly? 

8i 


EURIPIDES  w.  1318-1329 

Messenger. 
The  hope  to  save  Orestes.    Wonder  on ! 

Thoas. 
Orestes— how?    Not  Clytemnestra's  son? 

Messenger. 
And  our  pledged  altar-offering.    'Tis  the  same. 

Thoas. 

O  marvel  beyond  marvel !    By  what  name 
More  rich  in  wonder  can  I  name  thee  right  ? 

Messenger. 

Give  not  thy  mind  to  that.    Let  ear  and  sight 

Be  mine  awhile ;  and  when  thou  hast  heard  the  whole 

Devise  how  best  to  trap  them  ere  the  goal. 

Thoas. 

Aye,  tell  thy  tale.    Our  Tauric  seas  stretch  far, 
Where  no  man  may  escape  my  wand  of  war. 

Messenger. 

Soon  as  we  reached  that  headland  of  the  sea, 
Whereby  Orestes'  barque  lay  secretly. 
We  soldiers  holding,  by  thine  own  commands. 
The  chain  that  bound  the  strangers,  in  our  hands, 

82 


yv. ,33-1358  IPHIGENI A  IN  TAURIS 

There  Agamemnon's  daughter  made  a  sign, 

Bidding  us  wait  far  off,  for  some  divine 

And  secret  fire  of  cleansing  she  must  make. 

We  could  but  do  her  will.    We  saw  her  take 

The  chain  in  her  own  hands  and  walk  behind. 

Indeed  thy  servants  bore  a  troubled  mind, 

O  King,  but  how  do  else  ?    So  time  went  by. 

Meanwhile  to 'make  it  seem  she  wrought  some  high 

Magic,  she  cried  aloud  :  then  came  the  long 

Drone  of  some  strange  and  necromantic  song, 

As  though  she  toiled  to  cleanse  that  blood ;  and  there 

Sat  we,  that  long  time,  waiting.    Till  a  fear 

O'ertook  us,  that  the  men  might  slip  their  chain 

And  strike  the  priestess  down  and  plunge  amain 

For  safety ;  yet  the  dread  our  eyes  to  fill 

With  sights  unbidden  held  us,  and  we;,  still 

Sat  silent.    But  at  last  all  spoke  as  one, 

Forbid  or  not  forbid,  to  hasten  on 

And  find  them.    On  we  went,  and  suddenly, 

With  oarage  poised,  like  wings  upon 'the  sea. 

An  Argive  ship  we  saw,  her  fifty  men 

All  benched,  and  on  the  shore,  with  every  chain 

Cast  off,  our  strangers,  standing  by  the  stern ! 

The  prow  was  held  by  stay-poles :  turn  by  turn 

The  anchor-cable  rose ;  some  men  had  strung 

Long  ropes  into  a  ladder,  which  they  swung 

Over  the  side  for  those  two  Greeks  to  climb. 

The  plot  was  open,  and  we  lost  no  time 
But  flew  to  seize  the  cables  and  the  maid, 
And  through  the  stern  dragged  out  the  steering-blade, 
To  spoil  her  course,  and  shouted  :  '  *  Ho,  what  way 
Is  this,  to  sail  the  seas  and  steal  away 


83 


EURIPIDES  vr.x3S9-tS«9 

'An  holy  image  and  its  minister  ? 
What  man  art  thou,  and  what  man's  son,  to  bear 
.Our  priestess  from  the  land?"    And  clear  thereon 
He  spoke :  *  *  Orestes,  Agamemnon's  son, 
And  brother  to  this  maid,  whom  here  in  peace 
I  bear,  my  long  lost  sister,  back  to  Greece." 

We  none  the  less  clung  fast  to  her,  and  strove 
To  drag  her  to  thy  judgment-seat.    Thereof 
Came  trouble  and  bruised  jaws.     For  neither  they 
Nor  we  had  weapons  with  us.    But  the  way 
Hard-beaten  fist  and  heel  from  those  two  men 
Rained  upon  ribs  and  flank — again,  again  .  .  . 
To  touch  was  to  fall  gasping !    Aye,  they  laid 
Their  mark  on  all  of  us,  till  back  we  fled 
With  bleeding  crowns,  and  some  with  blinded  eyes, 
Up  a  rough  bank  of  rock.    There  on  the  rise 
We  found  good  stones  and  stood,  and  fought  again. 

But  archers  then  came  out,  and  sent  a  rain 
Of  arrows  from  the  poop,  and  drove  us  back. 
And  just  then — for  a  wave  came,  long  and  black, 
And  swept  them  shoreward — lest  the  priestess'  gown 
Should  feel  the  sea,  Orestes  stooping  down 
Caught  her  on  his  left  shoulder :  then  one  stride 
Out  through  the  sea,  the  ladder  at  the  side 
Was  caught,  and  there  amid  the  benches  stood 
The  maid  of  Argos  and  the  carven  wood 
Of  heaven,  the  image  of  God's  daughter  high. 

And  up  from  the  mid  galley  rose  a  cry : 
*  *  For  Greece !    For  Greece,  O  children  of  the  shores 
Of  storm !    Give  way,  and  let  her  feel  your  oars ; 
Churn  the  long  waves  to  foam.    The  prize  is  won. 
The  prize  we  followed,  on  and  ever  on. 
Friendless  beyond  the  blue  Symplegades.** 

84 


TV.I390-I4I9  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

A  roar  of  glad  throats  echoed  down  the  breeze 
And  fifty  oars  struck,  and  away  she  flew. 
And  while  the  shelter  lasted,  she  ran  true 
Full  for  the  harbour-mouth ;  but  ere  she  well 
Reached  it,  the  weather  caught  her,  and  the  swell 
Was  strong.    Then  sudden  in  her  teeth  a  squall 
Drove  the  sail  bellying  back.    The  men  withal 
Worked  with  set  teeth,  kicking  against  the  stream. 
But  back,  still  back,  striving  as  in  a  dream. 
She  drifted.    Then  the  damsel  rose  and  prayed : 
* '  O  Child  of  Leto,  save  thy  chosen  maid 
From  this  dark  land  to  Hellas,  and  forgive 
My  theft  this  day,  and  let  these  brave  men  live. 
Dost  thou  not  love  thy  brother.  Holy  One? 
What  marvel  if  I  also  love  mine  own?" 

The  sailors  cried  a  paean  to  her  prayers. 
And  set  those  brown  and  naked  arms  of  theirs, 
Half-mad  with  strain,  quick  swinging  chime  on  chime 
To  the  helmsman's  shout.    But  vainly ;  all  the  time 
Nearer  and  nearer  rockward  they  were  pressed. 
One  of  our  men  was  wading  to  his  breast, 
Some  others  roping  a  great  grappling-hook. 
While  I  sped  hot-foot  to  the  town,  to  look 
For  thee,  my  Prince,  and  tell  thee  what  doth  pass. 

Come  with  me.  Lord.    Bring  manacles  of  brass 
And  bitter  bonds.    For  now,  unless  the  wave 
Fall  sudden  calm,  no  mortal  power  can  save 
Orestes.    There  is  One  that  rules  the  sea 
Who  grieved  for  Troy  and  hates  her  enemy : 
Poseidon's  self  will  give  into  thine  hand 
And  ours  this  dog,  this  troubler  of  the  land — 
The  priestess,  too,  who,  recking  not  what  blood 
Ran  red  in  Aulis,  hath  betrayed  her  god ! 

8s 


EURIPIDKS  vv.  1420-1439 

Leader. 

.0 

■     Woe,  woe !    To  fall  in  these  men's  hands  again, 
Mistress,  and  die,  and  see  thy  brother  slain ! 

Thoas. 

Ho,  all  ye  dwellers  of  my  savage  town 

Set  saddle  on  your  steeds,  and  gallop  down 

To  watch  the  heads,  and  gather  what  is  cast 

Alive  from  this  Greek  wreck.    We  shall  make  fast, 

By  God's  help,  the  blasphemers. — Send  a  corps 

Out  in  good  boats  a  furlong  from  the  shore ; 

So  we  shall  either  snare  them  on  the  seas 

Or  ride  them  down  by  land,  and  at  our  ease 

Fling  them  down  gulfs  of  rock,  or  pale  them  high 

On  stakes  in  the  sun,  to  feed  our  birds  and  die. 

Women  :  you  knew  this  plot.    Each  one  of  you 
Shall  know,  before  the  work  I  have  to  do 
Is  done,  what  torment  is. — Enough.    A  clear 
Task  is  afoot.     I  must  not  linger  here.     ,  / 

[While  Thoas  is  7noving  off,  his  men  shouting 
and  riinnijig  before  and  behind  him,  there 
comes  a  sudden  blastifig  light  and  thunder- 
roll,  and  Athena  is  seen  in  the  air  con- 
jronting  them.  .•      \ 

Athena.(J||m^  M  ^^^^^^^^^^ 

Ho,  whither  now,  so  hot  upon  the  prey. 
King  Thoas?    It  is  I  that  bid  thee  stay, 
Athena,  child  of  Zeus.    Turn  back  this  flood 
Of  wrathful  men,  and  get  thee  temperate  blood. 

Apollo's  word  and  Fate's  ordained  path 
Have  led  Orestes  here,  to  escape  the  wrath 


86 


rv.x44o-x46x  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

Of  Them  that  Hate.    To  Argos  he  must  bring 

His  sister's  life,  and  guide  that  Holy  Thing 

Which  fell  from  heaven,  in  mine  own  land  to  dwell. 

So  shall  his  pain  have  rest,  and  all  be  well. 

Thou  hast  heard  my  speech,  O  King.     No  death  from 

thee 
May  snare  Orestes  between  rocks  and  sea : 
Poseidon  for  my  love  doth  make  the  sore 
Waves  gentle,  and  set  free  his  labouring  oar. 

And  thou,  O  far  away — for,  far  or  near 

A  goddess  speaketh  and  thy  heart  must  hear — 

Go  on  thy  ways,  Orestes,  bearing  home 

The  Image  and  thy  sister.    When  ye  come 

To  god-built  Athens,  lo,  a  land  there  is 

Half  hid  on  Attica's  last  boundaries, 

A  little  land,  hard  by  Karystus'  Rock, 

But  sacred.    It  is  called  by  Attic  folk 

Halae.    Build  there  a  temple,  and  bestow 

Therein  thine  Image,  that  the  world  may  know 

The  tale  of  Tauris  and  of  thee,  cast  out 

From  pole  to  pole  of  Greece,  a  blood-hound  rout 

Of  ill  thoughts  driving  thee.    So  through  the  whole 

Of  time  to  Artemis  the  Tauropole 

Shall  men  make  hymns  at  Halae.    And  withal 

Give  them  this  law.    At  each  high  festival, 

A  sword,  in  record  of  thy  death  undone. 

Shall  touch  a  man's  throat,  and  the  red  blood  run — 

One  drop,  for  old  religion's  sake.    In  this 

Shall  live  that  old  red  rite  of  Artemis. 


87 


EURIPIDES  w.  146,-1483 

And  thou,  Iphigema,  by  the  stair 
Of  Brauron  in  the  rocks,  the  Key  shalt  bear 
Of  Artemis.    There  shalt  thou  live  and  die, 
And  there  have  burial.    And  a  gift  shall  lie 
Above  thy  shrine,  fair  raiment  undefiled 
Left  upon  earth  by  mothers  dead  with  child. 

Ye  last,  O  exiled  women,  true  of  heart 
And  faithful  found,  ye  shall  in  peace  depart, 
Each  to  her  home :  behold  Athena's  will. 

Orestes,  long  ago  on  Ares'  Hill 
I  saved  thee,  when  the  votes  of  Death  and  Life 
Lay  equal :  and  henceforth,  when  men  at  strife 
So  stand,  mid  equal  votes  of  Life  and  Death,      ^' 
My  law  shall  hold  that  Mercy  conquereth. 
Begone.    Lead  forth  thy  sister  from  this  shore 
In  peace ;  and  thou,  Thoas,  be  wroth  no  more. 

Thoas. 

Most  high  Athena,  he  who  bows  not  low 

His  head  to  God's  word  spoken,  I  scarce  know 

How  such  an  one  doth  live.    Orestes  hath 

Fled  with  mine  Image  hence.  ...  I  bear  no  wrath. 

Nor  yet  against  his  sister.    There  is  naught, 

Methinks,  of  honour  in  a  battle  fought 

'Gainst  gods.     The  strength  is  theirs.     Let  those  two 

fare 
Forth  to  thy  land  and  plant  mine  Image  there. 
I  wish  them  well. 

These  bondwomen  no  less 
I  will  send  free  to  Greece  and  happiness, 

88 


w.x484-end.   IPHIGENIA    IN    TAURIS 

And  stay  my  galleys'  oars,  and  bid  this  brand 
Be  sheathed  again,  Goddess,  at  thy  command. 


Athena. 

'Tis  well,  O  King.    For  that  which  needs  must  be 
Holdeth  the  high  gods  as  it  holdeth  thee. 

Winds  of  the  north,  O  winds  that  laugh  and  run. 
Bear  now  to  Athens  Agamemnon's  son : 
Myself  am  with  you,  o'er  long  leagues  of  foam 
Guiding  my  sister's  hallowed  Image  home. 

[She  floats  away. 

Chorus. 

Some  Women. 

Go  forth  in  bliss,  O  ye  whose  lot 
God  shieldeth,  that  ye  perish  not ! 

Others. 

O  great  in  our  dull  world  of  clay. 
And  great  in  heaven's  undying  gleam, 

Pallas,  thy  bidding  we  obey : 

And  bless  thee,  for  mine  ears  have  heard 

The  joy  and  wonder  of  a  word 

Beyond  my  dream,  beyond  my  dream. 


89 


NOTES  TO  IPHIGENIA  IN  TAURIS 

GENEALOGY  OF  THE  CHIEF  PERSONS 
MENTIONED  IN  THE  PLAY 

Tantalus       Oenomaus 

I  I    . 

Pelops    m.    Hippodamia 

I 

Atreus 


Agamemnon,         Menelaus,         A  daughter, 
m.  Clytemnestra       m,  Helen         m,  Strophius, 

King  of  Phocis 


Iphigenia  Orestes  Electra,  m.  Pylades 

(The  names  "Iphigenia,"  "Hippodamia"  have  the  last 
/  long,  as  in  "  Obadiah  " ;  similarly,  "  Menelaus  "  rhymes 
with  ''slay  us."  But  Oenomaus  and  Strophius  have  the 
penultimate  short.) 

P.  3,  1.  1.]— Oenomaus,  King  of  Ells,  offered  his 
daughter  and  his  kingdom  to  any  man  who  should  beat 
him  in  a  chariot  race;  those  who  failed  he  slew. 
Pelops  challenged  him  and  won  the  race  through  a 
trick  of  his  servant,  Myrtilus,  who  treacherously  took 
the  linchpins  out  of  Oenomaiis's  chariot.  Oenomaiis 
was  thrown  out  and  killed ;  Pelops  took  the  kingdom, 
but  in  remorse  or  indignation  threw  Myrtilus  into  the 

91 


EURIPIDES 

sea  (1.  192,  p.  11).  In  some  stories  Oenomaiis  killed 
the  suitors  by  spearing  them  from  behind  when  they 
passed  him.  Pelops  was  the  son  of  Tantalus,  renowned 
for  his  pride  and  its  punishment. 

P.  3,  1.  8,  For  Helen's  sake.] — i.e.  in  order  to  win 
Helen  back  from  the  Trojans. 

P.  4,  1.  23,  Whatever  birth  most  fair.] — Artemis 
Kalliste  ("Most  Fair")  was  apparently  so  called  be- 
cause, after  a  competition  for  beauty,  that  which  won 
the  prize  (to  KaXXiardov)  was  selected  and  given  to  her. 
This  rite  is  made  by  the  story  to  lead  to  a  sacrifice  of 
the  fairest  maiden,  and  may  very  possibly  have  some- 
times done  so. 

P.  4,  1.  42.] — She  tells  her  dream  to  the  sky  to  get 
it  off  her  mind,  much  as  the  Nurse  does  in  the  Medea 
(p.  5,1.  57). 

P.  5,  1.  50,  One  .  .  .  pillar.] — It  is  worth  remem- 
bering that  a  pillar  was  among  the  earliest  objects  of 
worship  in  Crete  and  elsewhere.  Cf.  "the  pillared 
sanctities"  (1.  128,  p.  9)  and  the  "blood  on  the  pillars" 
(1.  405,  p.  20). 

P.  8,  1.  113,  A  hollow  one  might  creep  through.]  — 
The  metopes,  or  gaps  between  the  beams.  The  Temple 
was  therefore  of  a  primitive  Dorian  type. 

P.  8,  11.  124-125.] — The  land  of  Tauris  is  conceived 
as  being  beyond  the  Symplegades,  or,  as  here,  as  being 
the  country  of  the  Symplegades. 

As  these  semi-mythical  names  settled  down  in  his- 
tory, Tauris  became  the  Crimea,  the  Symplegades,  or 
"Clashing  Rocks,"  or  "Dark-Blue  Rocks,"  became 
two  rocks  at  the  upper  end  of  the  Bosphorus,  and  the 
Friendless  or  Strangerless  Sea  became  the  Euxine.  The 

92 


NOTES 

word  Axeinos,  "Friendless,"  has  often  been  altered  in 
the  MSS.  of  this  play  to  Euxeinos,  "Hospitable," 
which  was  the  ordinary  prose  name  of  the  Black  Sea 
in  historical  times. 

P.  9, 1.  133,  The  horses  and  the  towers.]  — The  steppes 
of  the  Taurians  would  have  no  gardens  or  city  walls, 
but  it  is  curious  that  Hellas  should  seem  specially  a 
land  of  horses  by  comparison.  Cf.  p.  86,  1.  1423,  where 
Thoas  has  horses. 

P.  10, 1.  168,  The  golden  goblet,  &c.]— She  evidently 
takes  jars  of  libation  from  the  Attendants  and  pours 
them  during  the  next  few  lines  into  some  Eschara,  or 
Altar  for  the  Dead.  Most  of  the  rite  would  probably 
be  performed  kneeling. 

P.  11,  11.  192  ff..  The  dark  and  wheeling  coursers.] 
— i.e.  those  of  Pelops.  The  cry  of  one  betrayed :  Myr- 
tilus,  when  he  was  thrown  into  the  sea.  (See  on  1.  1.) 
For  the  Golden  Lamb  and  the  Sun  turning  in  Heaven, 
see  my  translation  of  Electra,  p.  47,  1.  699  and  note. 

P.  12,  1.  217,  The  Nereid's  Son.]— Achilles,  son  of 
Peleus  and  the  Nereid  Thetis. 

P.  13,  1.  238,  The  Herdsman's  entrance.] — Observe 
how  Iphigenia  is  first  merely  disturbed  in  her  obse- 
quies :  then  comes  the  sickening  news  that  there  are 
strangers  to  sacrifice :  then  lastly,  her  worst  fear  is 
realised ;  the  men  are  Greeks.  This  explains  her  exas- 
perated tone  in  1.  254,  "The  sea!  What  is  the  sea 
.  .  .  "  and  "Go  back!" — The  Herdsman  is  merely 
jubilant  and  obtuse. 

P.  15,  1.  263.] — The  murex  or  purple-fish  could  only 
be  collected  in  very  late  autumn  or  early  spring; 
consequently  the  fishers  made   encampments   for  the 

93 


EURIPIDES 

winter  and  returned  to  Tyre  and  Sidon,  or  wherever 
else  they  came  from,  after  the  spring  fishing.  See 
Berard,  Pheniciens  et  Odyssee,  i.  415. 

P.  15,  1.  270,  Son  of  the  White  Sea  Spirit,  &c.]— The 
man  is,  of  course,  made  to  use  the  names  of  Greek  not 
of  Taurian  gods.  He  thinks  first  of  Palaemon,  a  sea- 
god,  son  of  Leucothea  ("White- Goddess"),  then  of 
the  Dioskori,  Castor  and  Polydeuces ;  then  vaguely  of 
some  spirits  beloved  of  Nereus,  the  Ancient  of  the  Sea. 

P.  17,  1.  328  f.,  Of  all  those  shots  not  one  struck 
home.] — The  object  of  this  statement  must  be  to  ex- 
plain why  the  two  heroes  do  not  make  their  appearance 
bruised  and  dishevelled  as  the  Second  Messenger  does 
after  his  fight  with  the  Greeks.  Of  course  there  is  no 
great  harm  in  making  the  Taurians  bad  shots  as  well 
as  cowards,  and  possibly  there  is  some  value  in  the 
suggestion  of  a  supernatural  protection  which  is  only 
saving  its  object  for  a  crueller  death.  But  very  likely 
the  two  lines  are  interpolations. 

Pp.  17,  18,  11.  342  ff.]— A  wonderful  speech,  illus- 
trating the  gradual  breaking-up  of  the  ice  in  Iphigenia's 
nature. — The  Herdsman's  story  has,  of  course,  been 
horrible  to  her ;  all  the  more  so  because  he  expects  her 
to  enjoy  it  and  recalls  wild  words  she  has  uttered  in  the 
past,  when  brooding  on  her  wrongs.  She  controls  her 
feelings  absolutely  till  the  man  is  gone.  Then  she  feels 
like  one  turned  to  stone,  pitiless;  then,  if  only  it  were 
Helen  or  Menelaus  that  she  had  to  kill !  Then  vivid 
thoughts  of  the  misery  and  horror  of  Aulis  and  the 
poor  foolish  hopes  and  tremors  in  which  she  had  come 
there ;  then  the  thought  that  Orestes,  the  one  man  whom 
she  could  love  without  resentment,  is  dead.     Then  a 

94 


> 


NOTES 

rage  of  indignation  against  the  bloody  rites  and  the 
infamy  of  the  thing  she  has  to  do.  She  goes  into  the 
Temple  broken  in  nerve  and  almost  ready  for  rebellion. 

P.  19,  11.  385  ff.]  — Leto,  beloved  of  Zeus,  was  the 
mother  of  Artemis  and  Apollo,  who  were  born  in  the 
holy  island  of  Delos. — One  legend,  already  rejected  by 
Pindar,  said  that  the  crime  of  Tantalus  was  that  he 
had  given  his  child  Pelops  to  the  gods  to  eat. 

P.  19,  1.  392,  Dark  of  the  sea.]— The  Dark-Blue  of 
the  Symplegades  is  meant.  Sometimes  it  is  only  the 
Argo  that  has  ever  passed  through  them ;  .here  it  is  only 
lo,  daughter  of  Inachus,  loved  by  Zeus  and  hunted  by 
the  gadfly,  who  fled  outcast  through  the  East.  Her 
story  is  told  in  Aeschylus'  Prometheus  and  in  a  mag- 
nificent chorus  of  his  Suppliant  Women.  (See  Rise  of 
the  Greek  Epic,  pp.  247  ff.) 

The  present  lyric  begins  by  wondering  how  and  why 
the  strangers  have  come :  then  come  thoughts  of  the 
voyage  and  places  they  must  have  passed;  the  coast, 
where  Phineus  was  haunted  by  the  Harpies,  the  en- 
chanted sea  beyond  the  Symplegades,  and  the  mysteri- 
ous Isle  of  Leuce  ("White")  where  Achilles  lives  after 
death. — Then  comes  a  thought  of  Iphigenia's  longing 
for  revenge  on  Helen:  but  revenge  is  no  use.  It  is 
home  they  crave,  or,  if  that  is  impossible,  then  sleep 
and  dreams  of  home. 

P.  21,  1.  431,  The  steering  oar  abaft;]— The  steering 
was  done  by  an  oar,  or  sometimes  two  oars,  projecting 
into  the  sea  from  a  hole  in  the  stem.  Cf.  1.  1356,  p.  dt2>, 
"And  through  the  stern  dragged  out  the  steering- 
blade."  If  this  oar  was  left  free,  it  would  ripple  and 
beat  against  the  side. 

95 


J 


EURIPIDES 

P.  23,  1.  472,  What  mother  then  was  yours,  &c.]  — 
Not  very  like  a  woman  "turned  to  stone"  or  "without 
a  tear."  She  had  miscalculated  her  own  feelings. — 
Observe  how  Orestes  sternly  rejects  her  sentimental 
sympathy.     He  needs  all  his  strength. 

P.  25,  1.  512,  A  kind  of  banishment.]  —  He  was 
driven  by  his  Furies,  not  legally  banished. 

Pp.  26,  27,  11.  515  and  529,  "Oh  how  sweet  to  see 
thee  here!"  and  "Oh,  give  me  this  hour  full.  Thou 
wilt  soon  die."] — Iphigenia  is  more  than  tactless.  She 
is  so  starving  for  home  or  anything  that  brings  her  into 
touch  with  home,  that  neither  this  Stranger's  death  nor 
anything  else  matters  to  her  in  comparison.  A  fine 
dramatic  stroke. 

The  people  of  whom  she  asks  are,  first,  her  enemies 

—  Helen;  Calchas,  the  prophet,  who  had  commanded 
her  sacrifice;  Odysseus,  who  had  devised  the  plot  by 
which  she  was  brought  to  Aulis  (11.  16,  24)  ;  then 
Achilles,  who  had  been  the  hero  of  her  dreams;  then, 
with  fear  and  hesitancy,  those  for  whom  she  cares  most. 

—  Observe,  at  1.  553,  how,  on  hearing  of  her  father's 
murder,  her  first  thought  is  pity  for  her  mother.  Her 
father  is  already  in  her  mind  "he  that  slew."  But  in 
every  line  of  this  dialogue  there  is  fine  drama  and 
psychology. 

P.  28,  1.  538,  "Small  help  his  bridal  brought  him; 
he  is  dead."]  —  It  has  been  thought  curious  that  the 
mention  of  Achilles  should  immediately  suggest  to 
Orestes  the  bridal  at  Aulis,  though  of  course  it  does  so 
to  Iphigenia.  But  after  all  it  was  Orestes'  sister  that 
Achilles  was  to  marry  at  Aulis;  and  secondly,  a  large 
part  of  Orestes'  troubles  came  from  the  carrying  off 

96 


NOTES 

of  his  betrothed,  Hermione,  by  Achilles'  bastard  son, 
Pyrrhus.  If  the  marriage  at  Aulis  had  taken  place 
and  Achilles  left  a  true-born  son,  that  would  all  have 
been  different. 

P.  31,  1.  569,  Light  dreams  farewell!  Ye  too  were 
lies.] — This  does  seem  a  wrong  conclusion.  The 
dreams  only  suggested  that  Orestes  had  died  the  day 
before,  long  after  this  man  had  left  Argos.  But  per- 
haps it  is  not  unnatural. 

P.  32, 11.  576  f..  We  too  have  kinsmen  dear.]  — A  most 
characteristic  Euripidean  saying.  It  also  leads  up  to 
the  personal  interest  in  the  Chorus  which  we  feel  after 
1.  1075,  p.  63,  when  they  are  taken  into  the  conspiracy 
and  then  abandoned. 

P.  32,  1.  578,  Listen;  for  I  am  fallen  upon  a 
thought.]  — It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  use  of  the 
tablet  is  an  obvious  or  easy  thing.  It  is  a  daring  proj- 
ect that  crosses  her  mind,  as  one  possible  way  of  avoid- 
ing the  death  of  this  Stranger.  Her  hesitation  at  1.  742 
— where  a  pause  is  indicated  in  the  Greek — shows  that 
she  is  only  trusting  to  her  special  influence  over  the 
King  to  get  him  to  relax  the  law.  Presumably  mer- 
chants sometimes  were  admitted  to  the  Tauri;  for 
instance,  those  who  brought  the  Chorus.  The  safe  way 
to  use  the  tablet  would  have  been  to  make  sure  of  the 
friendship  of  one  of  these.  But  such  questions  lie 
outside  the  play. 

P.  34,  1.  618,  This  altar's  spell  is  over  me.] — I  trans- 
late the  MS.  reading  rijaSe.  In  my  text  I  accepted 
the  usual  emendation  rrjaBe..  But  TrpoaTpo-rnj  means 
"spell"  or  "infection."  See  Rise  of  the  Greek  Epic, 
p.  86. 

97 


EURIPIDES 

P.  34,  1.  627,  My  sister's  hand.]— £.^.  Electra's. 

Pp.  35-39,  11.  645-724.]  — Observe  that  all  through 
this  scene  it  is  Pylades  who  is  broken  and  Orestes 
strong.    Contrast  their  first  entrance,  pp.  6-8. 

P.  45,  1.  804,  Argos  is  bright  with  him.] — Literally, 
"is  full  of  him."  I  am  not  sure  that  I  understand  the 
expression,  but  I  think  she  feels  Orestes  as  a  magnifi- 
cent presence  filling  all  his  home. 

P.  46,  11.  809  ff.]— The  "signs"  are  clear  enough. 
He  remembers  that  there  was  an  embroidery  of  the 
Golden  Lamb  story  worked  by  Iphigenia;  that  when 
she  started  for  Aulis  she  had  cut  oif  her  hair  for  her 
mother  and  her  mother  had  given  her  some  Inachus 
water  to  use  in  the  sacred  washing  before  her  marriage ; 
also,  there  was  an  old  spear  belonging  to  Pelops  in  Iphi- 
genia's  room. — Apparently  Pelops  carried  a  spear  in 
the  chariot  race,  just  as  Oenomaus  did. 

Pp.  47-50,  11.  827-900.]  — In  this  scene  Iphigenia 
simply  abandons  herself  to  one  emotion  after  another, 
while  Orestes,  amid  all  his  joy,  keeps  his  head  and 
thinks  about  the  danger  that  still  surrounds  them. 
When  he  reminds  her  that  they  are  "not  yet  fortunate," 
she  thinks  only  of  Aulis  and  her  old  wrong.  At  last 
Orestes  gets  in  the  word,  "Suppose  you  had  murdered 
me  to-day,"  and  she  is  recalled  by  a  rush  of  horror 
at  her  own  conduct :  she  has  nearly  killed  him,  and  he 
is  still  in  imminent  danger.  She  tries  passionately  and 
despairingly  to  think  of  ways  of  escape,  but  it  needs 
the  intervention  of  Pylades  (which  she  rather  resents) 
to  bring  her  into  a  mood  for  sober  thinking. 

P.  51,  1.  915,  A  wife  and  happy.] — The  last  we 
heard  of  Electra  was  that  she  lived  "unmated  and 

98 


NOTES 

alone"  (1.  562,  p.  31).  But  that  was  said  when  Py- 
lades  was  regarded  as  practically  a  dead  man.  Electra 
was  apparently  betrothed  to  Pylades,  but  was  not  actu- 
ally his  wife. — There  is  no  mention  of  the  Peasant 
husband  of  the  Electra. 

P.  52,  1.  818.] — Anaxibia  (  ?),  sister  of  Agamemnon, 
was  wife  to  Strophios.    See  genealogical  table. 

P.  53,  11.  930  ff.,  That  frenzy  on  the  shore!]— It  is 
only  now  that  Iphigenia  fully  realises  her  brother's 
madness.  His  narrative  immediately  following  makes 
her  feel  it  the  more,  and  it  is  evidently  in  her  mind 
while  she  speaks  11.  989  ff. 

P.  54  f.,  11.  940  ff.,  Orestes'  Trial  at  Athens.]— Ac- 
cording to  one  legend  Orestes  was  finally  purified  of 
his  guilt  by  a  trial  at  the  Areopagus,  in  which  Apollo 
championed  him,  and  Athena,  as  President,  gave  a 
casting  vote  for  mercy.  (This  is  the  story  of  Aeschylus' 
Eumenides.)  By  another,  he  was  healed  when  he  had 
brought  this  Image  of  Artemis  to  Attica.  Euripides 
combines  the  two.  —  It  must  often  have  happened  in  a 
blood-feud  that  some  of  the  kindred  of  the  slain  man 
would  accept  the  result  of  a  trial  and  obey  the  law, 
while  some  cared  for  no  law  but  clung  to  their  ven- 
geance. Euripides  makes  the  Furies  do  the  same. 
Some  accept  the  judgment  and  stay  as  "Eumenides" 
in  Athens ;  others  know  no  law  nor  mercy. 

P.  55,  11.  949-960,  Mine  evil  days  are  made  a  rite 
among  them.] — At  the  Feast  of  the  Anthesteria,  each 
family  summoned  its  ghosts  from  the  grave  and  after 
the  feast  sent  them  back  again.  While  they  were  about, 
it  was  very  important  that  each  man  should  keep  his 
ghosts  to  himself :  there  must  be  no  infection  of  strange 

99 


EURIPIDES 

or  baleful  ghosts.  Hence  a  rite  in  which  each  man  ate 
and  drank  his  own  portion,  holding  no  communication 
with  his  neighbour.  The  story  then  went  that  this  was 
done  in  commemoration  of  Orestes'  visit  to  Athens  with 
the  stain  of  blood  upon  him.  (See  Miss  Harrison's 
Prolegomena,  chap,  ii.)  There  w^as  a  similar  feast  in 
Aegina. 

P.  56,  11.  990-1006.]— Iphigenia's  speech.  We  must 
realise  that  Iphigenia  has  been  suddenly  confronted  by 
a  new  and  complicated  difficulty.  She  was  prepared 
to  make  some  plot  to  save  her  brother's  life.  She  now 
realises  that  he  is  on  the  verge  of  madness ;  that  he  is 
determined  to  commit  an  act  of  what  will  be  considered 
desperate  sacrilege  by  stealing  the  image  of  Artemis ; 
and  that  he  expects  her  to  help  him  to  get  the  image  to 
his  ship. — She  might  hope  to  send  him  away  safe  and 
be  forgiven  by  the  King:  if  she  helps  him  to  steal  the 
image,  she  cannot  possibly  be  forgiven.  Again,  she 
might  very  possibly  fly  with  him  secretly,  if  she  went 
alone;  but  to  steal  the  statue  and  fly  seems  impossible. 

Confronted  with  this  problem,  she  deliberately  aban- 
dons both  her  thoughts  of  vengeance  and  her  hope  of 
escape,  and  agrees  to  give  her  life  for  Orestes. 

P.  59,  1.  1029,  I  think  I  dimly  see.]— Compare 
Electra,  translation,  p.  42,  where  Electra  suddenly 
solves  the  difficulty  of  slaying  Clytemnestra. 

P.  63,  11.  1075  ff..  Be  of  good  heart,  sweet  Mistress.] 
— The  women  of  the  Chorus  are  indeed  "true  of  heart 
and  faithful  found,"  as  Athena  says  later.  And  one 
feels  that  Iphigenia,  after  her  first  gush  of  gratitude, 
does  not  think  of  them  much.  She  will^^te  her  brother, 
and  they  will  be  left  with  very  little  hope  of  ever  seeing 

lOO 


NOTES 

Greece,  if  indeed  they  are  not  fatally  compromised  by 
their  share  in  the  plot.  —  One  can  hardly  blame  Iphi- 
genia ;  but  it  is  like  her. 

P.  64,  1.  1089,  Bird  of  the  sea  rocks.]— A  wonderful 
lyric,  as  spoken  by  these  exiles  waiting  on  the  shore. — 
In  their  craving  for  home  the  island  of  Delos  becomes 
the  symbol  for  all  that  is  Greek.  Delos,  the  birth- 
place of  Apollo  and  of  a  kinder  Artemis  than  that 
which  they  now  serve,  was  the  meeting-place  of  all  the 
lonians.  The  palm-tree,  the  laurel,  the  olive,  and  the 
Orbed  Lake  of  Delos  were  all  celebrated  in  ritual 
poetry.  The  singing  Swan  is  not  a  myth ;  it  is  a  migra- 
tory swan,  with  a  bell-like  cry,  which  comes  in  the 
winter  down  from  South  Russia  to  Greece, 

Isle  of  Pain  and  Love.]— Literally,  "Beloved  birth- 
pang  of  Leto."  When  Leto  was  about  to  give  birth  to 
her  twin  children  and  no  land  would  receive  her,  the 
little  rock  of  Delos  pitied  her  and  gave  her  a  resting- 
place. 

P.  64,  11.  1106  ff.,  Ah  the  old  tears.]— The  singer's 
mind  goes  back  to  her  old  grief,  when  her  city  was 
taken  and  she  sold  as  a  slave  from  market  to  market 
till  she  reached  Thoas.  Then  comes  the  thought  of 
Iphigenia's  happy  voyage  to  Greece  and  freedom ;  then 
a  dream-like  longing  to  fly  home,  to  watch  the  dances 
where  once  she  danced  for  the  prize  of  beauty. 

P.  67,  1.  1156,  Iphigenia  enters,  carrying  the  Image.] 
— It  would  probably  be  a  sort  of  Palladion — a  rough 
figure  with  a  shield  (originally  typifying  the  moon?), 
not  very  large.  She  would  probably  hold  it  in  a  robe 
of  some  sort,  that  her  bare  hand  might  not  touch  a 
thing  so  holy.    At  sight  of  Thoas  she  would  probably 

lOI 


EURIPIDES 

cover  it  up  altogether.  It  is  not  quite  clear  when  she 
puts  the  image  down. 

P.  67,  1.  1161,  I  unsay  that  word.] — It  was  a  bad 
omen  for  Thoas  to  say  at  so  critical  a  moment  that  a 
rule  was  broken.  The  priestess  declares  the  word 
unsaid — just  the  opposite  of  "accepting"  an  omen. — 
Dr.  Verrall,  however,  suggests  to  me  that  the  line 
means,  "I  ask  Hosia  (the  spirit  of  Holiness)  to  take  in 
charge  what  I  am  going  to  say" ;  i.e.  all  the  falsehoods 
into  which  she  is  about  to  plunge. 

This  scene  of  the  fooling  of  Thoas  is  full  of  wit  and 
double  meanings.  The  end  of  it  is  rather  like  the 
famous  scene  in  Forget-me-not,  where  the  Corsican 
avenger  is  induced  to  turn  his  back  in  order  to  let  a 
lady  pass  out  of  the  room  without  being  seen  and  com- 
promised, the  lady  in  question  being  really  the  person 
whom  he  has  sworn  to  kill. 

P.  72,  11.  1203  ff.] — This  change  of  metre  denotes 
increasing  tension  of  excitement. 

Each  individual  invention  of  Iphigenia  seems  clearly 
to  have  its  purpose.  She  wants  to  combine  a  great 
appearance  of  precaution  against  the  escape  of  the 
strangers — hence  the  soldiers,  the  bonds,  &c. — with  the 
greatest  possible  reality  of  precaution  against  any  one 
preventing  their  escape :  hence  she  takes  the  soldiers 
without  an  officer,  the  townsfolk  are  forbidden  to  fol- 
low or  even  to  look,  and  the  King  is  left  at  the  Temple. 
The  exact  motive  of  all  the  veiling  I  do  not  see;  per- 
haps it  adds  to  the  effect  to  represent  Thoas  as  delib- 
erately hiding  his  eyes  while  he  is  deceived.  But  in  any 
case  her  precautions  all  seem  sound  according  to  an- 
cient theology. 

102 


NOTES 

P.  77,  11.  1235,  1282,  Oh,  fair  the  fruits  of  Leto 
blow,  &c.] — A  curious  and  rather  difficult  little  ritual 
hymn  explaining  how  Apollo  came  from  Delos  to 
Delphi.  It  acts  more  as  an  interlude  than  anything 
else,  to  fill  the  time  until  we  learn  the  issue  of  the 
attempt  at  escape. 

All  Delphi  originally  belonged  to  Mother  Earth. 
The  oracles  were  given  by  her  daughter  Themis,  and 
the  place  guarded  by  an  ancient  earth-born  Dragon. 
Apollo  came,  slew  the  Dragon,  and  turned  Themis 
away.  Earth  took  revenge  upon  him  in  a  curious  man- 
ner :  she  invented  Dreams,  which  told  the  future  freely, 
though,  it  would  seem,  confusedly,  and,  so  to  speak, 
spoiled  the  trade  of  Delphi  until  Apollo  appealed  to 
Zeus  for  protection. — The  story  is  not  very  creditable 
to  the  gods,  and  is  expressly  denied  by  Aeschylus  on 
that  ground.  According  to  them  there  was  never  any 
strife;  Earth,  Themis,  Phoebe  peacefully  succeeded 
one  another  at  Delphi,  and  Phoebe  gave  it  as  a  birth- 
gift  to  Phoebus  or  Apollo. 

I  think  the  story  is  probably  a  case  of  the  infant  Sun 
slaying  the  Serpent  of  darkness.  The  ancient  identifi- 
cation of  Phoebus  Apollo  with  the  sun  and  Artemis- 
Hecate  with  the  moon  seems  to  me  to  withstand  all 
modern  criticisms,  though  of  course  there  are  many 
other  elements  combined  with  the  Sun  and  Moon 
elements. 

P.  79,  1.  1284,  Messenger.]— This  excited  rush  upon 
the  stage  of  a  man  clamouring  for  the  King  is  very 
clever  as  a  next  step  in  the  story.  One  sees  at  once 
the  sort  of  thing  that  has  happened,  and  wants  to  know 
what  exactly. 

103 


EURIPIDES 

P.  80,  1.  1302,  "This  good  messenger."] — There  is 
nothing  to  tell  us  what  the  good  messenger  is.  Prob- 
ably a  large  sacred  knocker,  such  as  were  often  on 
temple  doors.  (They  served  for  suppliants  to  catch 
hold  of  as  well  as  for  summoning  the  people  inside.) 
But  it  may  be  a  gong  or  a  horn  hanging  by  the  door, 
or  the  like. 

P.  82,  1.  1325,  Aye  tell  thy  tale.]  —  It  is  perhaps  a 
little  awkward  that  Thoas  should  ask  for  the  whole 
story  before  taking  any  steps  to  pursue  Iphigenia.  But 
partly  he  is  so  amazed  that  he  wants  to  hear  all  he  can 
before  moving ;  partly,  he  is  represented  as  being  really 
sure  of  his  prey,  as  king  of  all  the  Taurian  seas. 

P.  83f  1.  1350,  The  prow  was  held  by  stay-poles.]  — 
The  ship  was  afloat,  having  been  just  dragged  off  the 
shore,  bow  forwards.  The  men  were  raising  the 
anchor,  and  holding  the  prow  steady  by  long  punt- 
poles.  The  ladder  seems  to  have  been  a  rope-ladder; 
but  the  Greek  is  difficult,  and  I  do  not  know  of  any 
mention  of  a  rope-ladder  elsewhere  in  Greek  literature. 

P.  84,  1.  1384,  The  Maid  of  Argos  and  the  carven 
wood  of  Heaven.] — Observe  how  closely  Iphigenia  and 
the  image  are  united.  She  appears  with  it  in  her  arms ; 
she  must  fly  together  with  it,  or  die ;  she  and  the  image 
enter  the  ship  together.  There  is  religion  behind  this. 
Perhaps  there  was  some  old  statue  of  the  goddess 
carrying  her  own  image,  as  Athena  sometimes  carries 
a  Palladion;  when  Iphigenia  became  the  priestess  and 
Artemis  the  goddess,  this  was  interpreted  as  the 
priestess  carrying  the  goddess'  image. 

P.  85,  1.  1415,  There  is  One  who  rules  the  sea.]  — 

104 


NOTES 

Poseidon,  the  sea  god,  was  traditionally  a  friend  of 
Troy.    See  the  first  scene  of  The  Trojan  Women. 

P.  86,  1.  1435,  Athena.]  —  Modern  readers  complain 
a  good  deal  of  this  appearance  of  the  God  from  the 
Machine.  Some  day  I  hope  to  discuss  the  Deus  ex 
Machina  at  length,  but  in  the  meantime  I  would  point 
out  the  following  facts:  1.  A  theophany  or  appearance 
of  a  god  seems  to  have  been  in  the  essence  of  the 
original  conception  of  Greek  Drama;  a  study  of  the 
fragments  of  Aeschylus  will  illustrate  this.  What 
Euripides  did,  apparently,  was  to  invent,  or  use  when 
invented,  an  improved  kind  of  stage  machinery  for  in- 
troducing the  god  in  the  air.  2.  The  theophany  seems 
to  have  been  effective  with  the  Greek  audience,  and  I 
believe  it  would  usually  be  so  with  any  audience  that 
was  not  highly  sophisticated  and  accustomed  to  asso- 
ciate such  appearances  with  pantomime  fairies.  3.  In 
nearly  all  cases  the  god  who  appears  not  only  speaks 
lines  of  great  beauty  and  serenity,  but  also  comes  with 
counsel  and  comfort  which  have  something  of  heaven 
about  them.  The  Dioscori  of  the  Electra  are  most 
typical,  healing  the  agony  of  revenge  by  sheer  forgive- 
ness; the  beautiful  Artemis  of  the  Hippolytus  is  dif- 
ferent, but  divine  also.  But  every  case  needs  its  special 
treatment. 

P.  87,  1.  1457,  Artemis  the  Tauropole.]— On  the 
rite  of  Artemis  Tauropolos  at  Halae,  see  Preface,  p.  vi. 
There  is  a  play  on  words  in  "Tauropole";  it  is  inter- 
esting to  see  that  Euripides  has  prepared  for  it  as  early 
as  Orestes'  first  speech,  11.  84  f.,  though  I  did  not 
think  it  worth  representing  in  English  there. 

105 


OTHER  WORKS  BT  THE 
SAME  AUTHOR 

EURIPIDIS  TRAGOEDIE  (Oxford  Classical  Texts).        Edited 
by   Gilbert  Murray.    3  vols.,  crown  8vo,  90c,  each. 

Vol.  I     Cyclops,  Alcestis,  Mkdka,  Hkraclidae,  Hif- 
poLYTus,  Andromacha,    Hecuba. 

Vol,  II     SiTPPLicis,  Hercules,  Ion,  Troiades,  Electra, 
Iphigenia  Taunia. 

Vol.  Ill     Helena,  Phoenissae,  Orestes,  Bacchae,  Iphi- 
genia AuLiDENSis,  Rhesus. 

India  Paper,  Vols.  I-III,  $3.10;  yols.  I-II, 
^2.25  ;  Vol.  Ill,  $1.10. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  GREEK  EPIC.     8vo,  $2.50. 

THE   INTERPRETATION    OF   GREEK    LITERATURE. 
An  Inaugural  Lecture.        8vo,  35c. 


14  DAY  USE 

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